Jake Bugg heads to Splendour in the Grass with new album On My One

Don’t be fooled by those schoolboy looks: Jake Bugg’s third album qualifies him as something of a career veteran.

Jake Bugg, 22: ‘I believe every record should be different.’ Picture: Tom Oxley

Jake Bugg must have his tongue slightly in cheek when he sings about being a “poor boy from Nottingham” on his new album, On My One. The line, from the swaggering, acoustic opening title song, bemoans the life of a lonesome troubadour, no sins forgiven, no home to go to, 400 shows and counting. It can’t be that bad, can it?

Bugg, 22, says the words just came to him while strumming his guitar one day. There is an element of truth to the title, however. On My One, which outside of Nottingham would read as on my own, reflects the young English singer’s hectic lifestyle over the past few years, since he emerged as an 18-year-old with his self-titled, chart-topping debut album. In four years his reputation as one of England’s most exciting young performers has grown considerably, not least in Australia, where he opened for Mumford & Sons last November. He’s heading back for a series of shows that includes next month’s Splendour in the Grass festival in Byron Bay.

“I was only there for two days last time so it was quick,” he says in his nasal Notts brogue. This time he’ll be here longer, with some time off — and with an expanded band that reflects the broadening of his brief on the new album.

Blues, folk and country, which were at the core of his debut and its successor, the Rick Rubin-produced Shangri La, are still key elements, but On My One is easily Bugg’s most eclectic offering so far, with anthemic pop (Love, Hope and Misery), psychedelic rock (Gimme the Love), Marvin Gaye-style soul (Never Wanna Dance) and rap (Ain’t No Rhyme) added to the mix. And to give the title more credence, Bugg played, recorded and produced much of it on his own, after a few false starts, including sessions with Beastie Boy Mike D in Los Angeles, which came to nothing. The most radical change this time is that after two albums where the bulk of the material was written with Northern Irish musician Iain Archer, Bugg has struck out this time as a songwriter ... on his one.

“I believe every record should be different,” says Bugg. The now London-based muso enjoyed the experience and the results of working with the experienced American gun producer Rubin in 2013, but wanted to move on. He just wasn’t sure where or who to move on to. “I had a lot of fun working with Rick on that record and I love it,” he says, “but I like to try things out and experiment. I had no intention of producing some of the tracks myself. That just came while I was writing.” So too did the notion of playing a lot of the instruments, not just his trusted Martin, Fender, Gibson and Gretsch guitars. “I might have just jumped behind the kit or whatever, to give it a bash,” he says modestly.

In the end On My One was recorded in London, Nottingham and Los Angeles, the American sessions with producer Jacknife Lee, who worked on the songs Never Wanna Dance, Bitter Salt and the centrepiece, the epic strings-laden Love, Hope and Misery. That’s a track that sways somewhere between Adele and Gene Pitney in its scale of grand pop. There was also a bonus for Bugg, who was able to employ one of his favourite drummers, now in his 70s, for that session. James Gadson, who made his name in the 1960s playing with artists such as Bill Withers, is still performing and just happened to be around when Bugg was putting down tracks with Lee.

“He has always been one of my favourite drummers,” says Bugg. “He overdubbed some drums on the track we were working on and I got to play along with him live in the studio, which was amazing. He is the coolest guy.”

It might seem a little odd that Bugg is such a fan of a drummer whose heyday was long before he was born, but the young singer’s output is steeped in music from a bygone era. One can hear British 60s outfits such as Them and the Yardbirds in his early recordings, while the blues has been a constant influence. Jimi Hendrix is his guitar hero, but there are traces too of Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers and other rock ’n’ roll pioneers in songs such as Two Fingers, Broken, Trouble Town and Lightning Bolt from his debut album.

Now he is casting his net wider, no more so than on Ain’t No Rhyme, a swaggering, funky hip-hop assault on the senses. It’s a form that is pretty new to him. He didn’t grow up in Nottingham listening to much hip hop, although it was part of the local culture. “I was always around it,” he says. “I always liked the beats and the grooves on it and I wondered if there was a way to incorporate that into what I do, without it being too far over the side of hip hop.”

Ain’t No Rhyme is about his transformation from working-class Nottingham boy to a somewhat more affluent man about town, yet one whose heart still lies in the suburb of Clifton where he grew up. “You can’t just wind up the dividing screen / When you’re in the middle, which side do you lean?” he semi-sings.

“I was in the studio and I laid a beat down and then the music down,” he says. “It was just one riff so it was hard to change the melody over that, so I just started rapping for a bit of fun, then someone turned around and said they liked it. I was just messing a round. I didn’t expect anyone to like it. It’s not exactly what people expect to hear from me. If you pulled that song out by itself it might sound a bit odd, but in the context of the record I think it works well.”

It’s remarkable that Bugg is already something of a career veteran with three albums to his name, especially when you see him, still with schoolboy features. His favourite pastime apart from playing guitar is FIFA on Xbox. “It’s a way to switch off,” he says, “although I get more annoyed at playing FIFA than anything else.”

He has a mature head on his shoulders, however, and has learned a lot about the music business in the four years in which he has been caught up in it; not all of it is to his liking.

The bombastic Gimme the Love on the new album is targeted primarily at the movers and shakers in the industry for whom love of the music is a secondary consideration at best. “It’s kind of about people who are seeking attention,” he says, “trying to justify their roles … the annoying day-to-day stuff that surrounds it all and stops making it fun. I’m definitely more cynical about it and not accepting of it. I always want to know why I’m always doing favours for everyone. It seems like I’m always doing favours but never getting anything in return.”

Bugg has plans for another album. He wants it to be different, “but I just don’t know what that is yet”. In the meantime he’s excited and nervous about the release of his new one.

“You don’t know how it’s going to be received, whether the fans are going to like it,” he says. “It’s out of your hands. That’s the worst thing. There is nothing you can do about it.”

Jake Bugg’s Australian tour begins at Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay, on July 24 and travels to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.