We’ve been able to watch James Marriott grow as an artist over the years thanks to his online presence. From this we’ve been able to see his soundscape evolve, going from parodies of latin music about Lele Pons to fully fledged alternative pop tracks featuring hooks so catchy you’d require an excavation crew to remove them from your head. Each track he’s dropped has been better than the last and his latest EP Bitter Tongues is a collection of some of his best tracks to date. Sleeping Trains and Gold were already firm fan favourites before release and Car Lights is certainly going to be the ballad where everyone will pull out a lighter at his live shows as they tear up. However there was one song that I’ve had on repeat rigorously since it came out.
One half The Wanted’s memorable Glad You Came and the other The 1975 during their self-titled album era mixed with The Wombats, Grapes is something you’ll struggle to get out of your head. One listen and you’ll be smiling from ear to ear as you dance around to the addictive guitar melodies that could’ve come straight out of the early 2000’s indie rock era, include the percussion that’ll have your foot tapping in no time and it’s easy to see this will certainly be a crowd pleaser. Marriott’s vocal has a huge amount of charisma too, giving this piece a ton of personality and charm that only adds to the enjoyment.