One to watch: Jacob Alon
Every so often, a new voice comes along with the alchemical combination of fragile beauty and poetry that has the power to seemingly stop time in its tracks. It's the magic that has made alternative music pillars of Jeff Buckley and Laura Marling, and it's a quality that Fife-born Jacob Alon emits in every note.
Rooted in the delicate, finger-picked folk tradition, there's a timelessness to Alon's work. But their queer stories of slow self-actualisation and romantic exploration also contain frequently devastating, consistently gorgeous moments that throw modern reference points and a knowingness into the mix. Previous single Liquid Gold 25 is named after a bottle of poppers; Sertraline wryly ends Alon's forthcoming debut album, In Limerence, with a nod to one of the UK's most prescribed antidepressants: ('You're tired/ Well who isn't, babe/ That's the price for being awake.')
Performing their first single, Fairy in a Bottle, on Later… with Jools Holland shortly after its release, Alon – barefoot and wearing a pair of gold-feathered trousers – had the quality of a woodland nymph, or a being vibrating on a slightly different plane to the rest of the studio. In Limerence – a reference to the limbo state of unrequited love – cements this celestial quality on a record with all the hallmarks of a modern classic, from an artist clearly at the start of something special.
In Limerence is released on 30 May via Island/EMI. Jacob Alon tours the UK and Ireland from April to July
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