(Island)Crushed by the weight of expectation after being tipped for big things, Garratt seizes control on a mature second album laced with trauma and disappointment
Assuming such things carry on as normal in the wake of the
Coronavirus pandemic, in a few months’ time, denizens of the
music industry will be asked to cast their votes for the BBC’s Sound of … poll and the 2021 Brits rising star award (formerly known as critics’ choice). For new artists, topping these polls is generally assumed to make success a foregone conclusion. But heaping accolades on any artist at the start of their career can have unpredictable effects: just ask Jack Garratt, who won both polls in 2016 – a feat, as it was customary to point out, that had previously been achieved by Adele, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding, multi-platinum transatlantic success stories all.