The press release talks about how everyone in the world loves Jamie Cullum. People have bought his tickets in the US, a Danish radio station devoted a whole day to the man (pray to God they have a euthanasia policy) and he has come number 1 on playlists in Japan. Yet it leaves the analysis of the song to this ‘descriptive’ sentence, ‘Photograph is a beautiful song that showcases Jamie’s ability to write a classic which will appeal to fans old and new.’ This sentence could be applied to anyone! ‘Death metal band ‘Rodent Killer’ have a beautiful new song, ‘Killing My Nan’, which showcases their ability to write a classic which will appeal to fans old and new.’ But enough on the vagaries of music press...
Jamie Cullum does ritually slaughter ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ by Jimi Hendrix, but most of the songs on his albums are quite snappy with a new slant on old crooner numbers. This new song has some light piano with him singing over the top until the band goes into a jazzy chorus, with middle of the road results. Some might say it is a summery song, but the image of skipping through meadows doesn’t imprint on my mind through listening to this song.
Cullum has tried to reinvent himself with this single, moving away from any association with Sinatra to try and crack the Coldplay loving, Pop Idol watching, mainstream. Yet it is in no way memorable. The song is about looking into old photographs and reminiscing about what happened is a universal theme, everyone does it. So, by making the song just that little bit more listenable, he could have had a hit. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he will, the market for bland music is saturated already.
