The Streets of Swansea: Jack Jones releases second single from eagerly anticipated new album

Stephen Price

Talented songwriter/wordsmith Jack Jones has released a new ‘dancefloor monster’ with a video filmed at Glastonbury Festival – with critics hailing him Swansea’s answer to The Streets.

Who Let the Bass Pump Through The Floor is the second track to be lifted from Jack’s anticipated debut solo album ‘Jack Jones’ – released on Friday September 20.

His previous single Breathe picked up multiple plays on BBC 6Music and was featured on the BBC’s coverage of the Euros.

Upon the release of his latest track, Jack said: “When we first started drinking as young kids, we couldn’t get into pubs or anything, so we used to always have house parties…

“It was just an excuse to find someone’s flat and destroy it. The song’s the idea of people arriving from the street, and coming in, each with their own back-story. It’s a bit of a banger!”

The video for Who Let The Bass Pump Through The Floor was shot over Glastonbury weekend by Barnaby Fairley, who also directed the video for previous single Breathe.

Innovation

For this album, Jack put away his guitar and embraced a fresh and contemporary sound, bringing to life his hard-hitting state of the nation poems of existential fear and loathing.

His lyrics tackle many of today’s burning issues: mental health, drug addiction, mortality, and the tortuous demands of technology, but there’s also joy and hope in there.

With some of his catchiest tunes so far, it’s a record that’ll both open up this natural-born star to untapped audiences, and reveal hidden depths to those already ‘on the team’.

Speaking about his music to Nation.Cymru, Jack said:  “I’m sure we all try to slay the beast, conquer the madman and feed the angel living inside us. But I think you can only abuse the body and the mind for so long before it says “No More!” And it humbles you.

“Luckily, sometimes, out of the darkest places, glimmers can appear, and that’s what many of these songs are… a chapter of resilience, finding a way to keep going, finding a way to believe in a future, finding a way to breathe.”

The album will be available on vinyl in multiple colour formats, CD and digital download and was co-written, produced and mixed by Adam French.

Also available will be Jack Jones’s new book ‘Tour Diaries’ Volume 1 featuring Jack’s time with Trampolene, The Libertines and Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres.

Compulsion

Jack Jones is a compulsive wordsmith, an obsessive jotter-down of phrases, and weird things that people say. Across three studio albums and a hatful of singles and EPs since 2013, his work with Trampolene has always drawn from this humungous, ever-accumulating verbal resource. On his own, he has also published a novel (2023’s ‘Swansea to Hornsey’) and recited poems and delivered spoken-word onstage.

The new direction arose out of an introduction to Mancunian artist/producer/songwriter/laptop warrior Adam French. For Jones, French’s way of composing and recording was like being teleported into a parallel dimension.

We spoke to Jack on the launch of Breathe to find out more about the uplifting new track, his influences and what to expect from the highly anticipated new album.

What got you into poetry?

“Dylan Thomas was the one that tweaked my imagination, being a local lad from Swansea he was taught at my school so I knew of him at a very early age.

“And through him and the other Dylan (Bob) it helped me to become a better lyricist.”

Poetry is embedded in Welsh culture, but there’s been a lack of the form hitting the mainstream over the past few decades – any thoughts on that?

“I think most people maybe don’t see that poetry is everywhere you look and in everything you do, like me, they probably had a teacher covering their work in red pen and making them feel like this world wasn’t for them…but it is for you and is for everyone…

“You just gotta find what you love and write it to death… my themes are just my life I suppose… and how I make it through it.”

It’s refreshing to hear your real accent on your releases – was it a conscious decision to stand firm on that?

“I love my accent and most regional accents, I think it gives things more character and also I couldn’t do it any other way, sounded fake.”

Tell us about your influences for the single and upcoming album

“The Streets, Baxter Dury, Sleaford Mods and some rave dance music… we banned guitars from the studio, which put me right out of my comfort zone and we went from there.”

The fusion of innovative production with your poetry is very powerful

“Thanks. No one was more surprised than me as to how it all turned out.

“I really enjoyed the experience as it was so different to what I do with Trampolene musically and to try and do something more contemporary was a joy.”

What can we expect from the new album?

“Just ramblings from diaries over banging tunes and beautiful melodies.

“Something for everyone and for every mood.”

Excited to head out on tour?

“Yeah…but a bit nervous as it’s so different.. I’m still planning how I’m going to do it.

“It’s a strange thing to get my head around…the songs sound huge and I want to do them justice…

“I can’t wait for them to be out there in the world and for people to hear them and hopefully sing along.”

Live shows

To coincide with the release, Jack has announced the following live shows in November, following an acclaimed performance at Glastonbury.

Tickets for the November tour are on presale now  and go on general sale on Friday 14th June at 10am: https://found.ee/JackJonesTour

The full dates are:

2 Nov:  Glasgow – The Poetry Club SWG3

3 Nov: Liverpool – Jacaranda

6 Nov: North Shields – Three Tanners Bank

7 Nov:  Manchester – YES Basement

8 Nov:  Cambridge – The Six Six Bar

9 Nov: Shrewsbury – Albert & Co Frankville

13 Nov: Bristol – The Exchange

14 Nov: London – Old Blue Last

15 Nov: Swansea – Bunkhouse

16 Nov:  Cardiff – The Moon

Jack also plays the following shows over the summer with Trampolene: City Summer by the River in London (15 August) , Y Festival in Ross On Wye (25 August) and Fairwood Festival in Gower (7 September).

Stream Jack’s latest single here and his previous release, Breathe here.

Pre-order Jack’s forthcoming album here: https://found.ee/JackJonesALBUM