Why This Album Matters To Me – Love, Death and Dancing by Jack Garratt.
Last November, on a cold and windy evening, I hopped on a train to London Victoria with a vague idea of how I needed to get where I needed to go. At this point in my life, I was at quite a low point. I’d just quit a job that left me emotionally and physically drained, the new job I’d started wasn’t shaping up to be what I wanted, I’d been creatively slumped since I left University. Essentially I’d lost my way. I didn’t know where I wanted to go or where I wanted to be and quite frankly, I was just looking for a way to escape this feeling whether that be a temporary or a permanent solution.
One constant that’s always helped me when I’ve been at this kind of a loss has always been music. It’s helped me to get feelings out, it’s helped me to escape and most of all it’s helped me establish some sort of relatability with how I’ve been feeling. There’s something about certain songwriters, that just have this way of getting across how they’re feeling in such a specific way whilst also being universally relatable. To me it really is such an amazing talent, and I’ve always been drawn to their music. There’s been Father John Misty, there’s been Rex Orange County and in this case, there was Jack Garratt.
Jack Garratt is almost definitely my favourite musician. I adore the way he crafts his songs, and listening to his first album Phase back in 2016 was the first album where I sat there and went “God, how on earth was this made?”. It really made me start to appreciate the production of a song, the layers that make up what you’re listening to and the calm or chaos that can come from that. It’s played a big part in shaping what I listen to these past couple of years, and it really is a special album for me.
Jack was the reason I was heading to London in the first place. A couple of weeks prior he had announced that he was going to be doing a small gig, only 200 people or so, where he was going to showcase how his new music was shaping up. I bought a ticket in an instant. Jack having not been in the spotlight for near enough four years and with me obsessing over his music for pretty much that whole time, I had to go, and I’m so so glad I did.
The show was incredible. It was intimate, it was raw and to see Jack get up on stage and be so honest about what had been affecting him, his mental health, his feeling of being at a loss, this creative disillusionment, it all just resonated with me. The way Jack performs really added to this too. The energy he brings, the way he delivers each song, it really felt like he was exorcising some of this pain and getting it out through this passionate performance.
It hit me hard as I sat there by myself, but I got this feeling that it was hitting the room the exact same way. I cried, I laughed and I left Mirth Marvel and Maud that night genuinely hopeful. The way Jack had opened up both in conversation and within his lyrics, genuinely made me see there was a way through, that I wasn’t going to be stuck in this low period forever, that I would love myself both mentally and creatively. It gave me hope that there was a way forward, which was something that I think I really needed at that point.
I went away and later that week I actually started writing, which I hadn’t done in months, I opened up more with my girlfriend about what was going on in my brain. I don’t know why but that gig just made something click, it made me really think about why I was at this low point and what I needed to do to try and change it, it really was that special. But I think that goes back to what I was saying earlier, music has always been something that’s helped me feel. It’s helped me understand myself and hearing someone else sing about the way I’m feeling gives this vicarious catharsis that genuinely helps.
I think the worst thing about coming away from that gig was knowing that I wouldn’t be able to hear any of the songs until some point the following year. I knew I’d have to wait to hear the lyrics that affected me so much again. But then on the 12th of June 2020, Jack Garratt released his new album, Love Death and Dancing and after being so enamoured with Phase I was worried, was I expecting too much from the album? Was I setting myself up to be disappointed? Even though I had such a significant moment hearing Jack perform some of these songs, would the actual recordings live up to that night?
Well, all I can say is that when I sat down and listened to that album from beginning to end, it honestly completely blew me away. Sitting there listening to it, I closed my eyes and was transported back to that cold windy night in November, it stirred those feelings back up inside and it filled me with joy. I’m not ashamed to say it made me cry a few times, especially hearing the lyrics that I had latched onto in November and that had been swimming around my brain ever since.
The best way I can describe it is that you really can hear the emotional weight behind the music. You can hear the care, love and soul that has gone into the production, it feels handcrafted and like Jack really has put everything he has into making this album. Because of this, it really reflected a feeling in the music for me, it felt honest and it felt like the music genuinely mattered to it’s creator and that really makes a difference. Knowing that the artist is genuinely proud and cares deeply about the music, just makes an album resonate for me.
You get this feeling through the lyrics as well. Jack has gone into length on his twitter about the meaning of the album, but it essentially tells the story of the journey he’s been through over the past few years. Much like the show in November, Jack’s honesty about his mental health and struggles within his lyrics, just makes this album feel incredibly important to him and in turn that makes it feel incredibly important to the listener. You can especially see this in tracks such as Doctor Please and She Will Lay My Body On The Stone the latter of which is genuinely one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
It all goes back to this idea of vicarious catharsis. As someone who is at a point where their mental health is a big factor in their life, and I’m still learning how to deal with it, to hear someone being so honest about this process and how they’re still learning to deal with it too it genuinely makes a difference. It makes you feel like you’re not alone, and that these issues aren’t affecting just you and sometimes it can give you hope.
I do hope one day I can get to tell Jack Garratt all of this in person, that I can get to tell him how much this album has genuinely helped me. Let’s be honest, if that ever did happen, I’d probably get star struck and say something goofy, but you know what that’d be fine too. If you haven’t listened to this album yet, I urge you to, it’s a beautiful piece of work that I think is really important and once you’ve done that watch all the wonderful music videos that accompany the album too. Essentially, just get a lot more Jack Garratt in your life and everything will be fine. Probably.
If you do go listen to the album, try and listen to it in its physical release order. When it was released on streaming services the order is slightly different, but you can find the physical release order here.