You chose the ugly rose

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

19/03/21 : Evering Road - Tom Grennan



I think of Tom being somewhere between Rag'n'Bone Man and Lewis Capaldi, without quite possessing the talent or the ability to pique my interest of either.  So I'm expecting something which is well presented but pretty inoffensive.

And, to be fair, I think there's a bit more of interest there than I was expecting - but not a lot.  It's fine if you like that sort of gravelly-warbly thing - I didn't mind it, but there weren't really any highlights to draw me back in (and I'm expecting Lewis Capaldi to do this all a lot better when I get to him sometime in the next year or so).  And what's going on the album cover - why would anyone wear a vest/jacket combination in a partially off-the-shoulder way?  Yes, I'm asking the important questions that need asking here...

We're at #1 with a new entry again this week - he managed nine weeks before dropping out, which is about seven more than I was expecting.  And then, about four months later, it appeared back in the charts and is currently on a 27 week run - I'm astonished, to be honest.  The other new entries in the top ten are Central Cee (#2), Thunder (#3) and RJ Thompson (#5) - and the only artist I can tell you anything about there is Central Cee because I've just met him in 2022.  We also had a rare re-entry with Yungblud at #9 - there will have been a spurious reason for it which I just can't be bothered to look into.

Wikipedia doesn't have a lot of the album - apparently it's named after a road he used to live in with an ex-girlfriend and their break-up inspired the album (and I hope she's had a good think about what she's done).  The critics very much damned it with faint praise ("he's trying, I guess") and it did OK in Ireland as well as being amazingly successful over here.

"Customers also listened to" Becky Hill, Coldplay, George Ezra, Anne Marie and Lil Nas X - this is telling me that the public view Tom as falling into the "generic pop" bracket (I did find Lewis and Rag'n'Bone Man on the list but I had to go a long way down).  It's all fine, but I can't remember a single reason to revisit it, I'm afraid.

12/03/21 - More enjoyable than expected (just)
26/03/21 - The one I've really been waiting for

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