Jamie Lawson - Jamie Lawson (2015)

Ed Sheeran announces Gingeraread Man Records with first signing Jamie Lawson

“I first became aware of Jamie Lawson a few years ago, after hearing his track “Wasn’t Expecting That”. I very rarely get emotional over a track, but that song stopped me dead. He manages to put across such raw emotion within his work, and I knew immediately that I wanted to work with this guy in some way. Having decided to start my own label ‘Gingerbread Man Records’ with my label Atlantic Records, the first artist I had to sign was Jamie. Starting Gingerbread Man Records means I can put music I love out there on a huge platform, and Jamie seemed like the perfect choice for my first release” - Ed Sheeran, July 2015.

On his return to the UK, he went straight into a residential studio in the Oxfordshire countryside, tasked with putting a new album together in just two intense weeks. He worked with Ed’s producer Will Hicks, whose other credits include Lily Allen, James Blunt, Professor Green, Plan B and Bastille, and recording quickly has allowed the songs to retain an emotional immediacy, an intimacy, that often gets polished away in longer sessions.

If you’re looking for comparisons, think early, Moondance-era Van Morrison meeting the poppy accessibility of James Morrison, with perhaps a tip of the hat to Damien Rice and Ray LaMontagne. But there’s a reason he has decided to title it simply Jamie Lawson . From the fragile, tenderly lovely ‘All Is Beauty’ and ‘Cold In Ohio’ to the reassuring optimism of ‘Someone For Everyone’, this is an album that showcases a writer and a singer who is comfortably, confidently and completely himself.
‘I wanted to create something with warmth and love that was a bit like a nice blanket, a good cardigan,’ he says. ‘That couldn’t be less rock 'n' roll could it? But I hope it can help and comfort people, and that they’ll feel certain songs are there for them when they need them. I like that idea, because that’s what music has always been for me.’

Certainly, Wasn’t Expecting That is a song that connects with listeners deeply.

‘When I was touring in Ireland, you’d have families in the audience ¬– but there was always someone missing,’ says Jamie. ‘They came together because of this song, and that moved me a lot. Now I’m getting beautiful tweets from Australia that say “I’m driving into work and I’m in floods of tears again because of your song.” It’s crazy the effect it can have, but exciting, too.'