This week marks a year since the release of Long Way Down, Tom Odell’s long-awaited debut album, and we think that makes it about time to talk about him. We first saw him on Later… With Jools Holland back in 2012 performing Another Love. We saw it, liked it and then promptly forgot about it. However, we were thankfully reminded in the lead up to the release of A Long Way Down.
Tom Odell, a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Chichester, began writing songs at the age of 13, and studied classical piano to Grade 7. After deciding not to go to university, Tom gigged relentlessly at open-mike nights. Eventually he was spotted by none other than British pop diva Lily Allen. Newly signed, he released the EP Songs From Another Love in October 2012. His single, Another Love, gained unexpected popularity, and he won the BRITs’ Critics’ Choice Award at the 2013 BRIT Awards. This kick-started his career, sending his debut album Long Way Down to No 1 in UK Official Chart.
Long Way Down is an album filled with conflicting emotions of love and heartbreak. It starts with Grow Old With Me, a contemplation of ageing with a loved one. Hold Me is a rowdy, drunken anthem which describes the stages of a new relationship. The first eight bars of Another Love seem impossible to listen to without feeling some sort of emotion. This heartrending song tells of being unable to move on from an ended relationship, and it is in this track that Tom shows his real skill as a songwriter. I Know laments a love affair that will never take place, while Till I Lost considers not knowing what you have until it is gone. Clearly relationships are the main theme throughout the album, but this must be what works for Tom, as he has managed to get some outstanding material from a broken heart. The listener experiences the emotional highs and lows with him, and this is why we feel that Long Way Down is an outstanding album.
It’s no surprise that we were desperate to see Tom’s skinny jeans and funny haircut in the flesh, so in October 2013 we went to his gig at the O2 Academy in Glasgow. After some unremarkable support acts, we were keen for him to entertain us with our favourite tracks. And entertain he did. Tom performed with a band, and his songs definitely had a rockier edge live than on the album. He played all of his hits, plus a few well-received covers. The crowd loved his crooning vocals, and we would recommend experiencing him live.
Far from slowing down after all of his success, Tom has been going from strength to strength. He was recently named ‘Songwriter of the Year’ at the Ivor Novello Awards, and will be playing at a multitude of summer festivals across the UK and Europe. With a second album in the works and growing respect from musicians and fans alike, we reckon that for Tom Odell, the only way is up.
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