EP Review: #JKEP1

For those new to Jason Kerrison’s music, he was also the frontman for platinum selling Kiwi pop/rock band OpShop. To be honest I didn’t even know OpShop had disbanded, I wasn’t a follower but they had some good catchy songs such as No Ordinary Thing and One Day, so naturally I had some preconceived ideas of what to expect when I came to do this review.

The first thing I noticed was that while there are guitars present in the songs it really is just a background instrument, otherwise the songs are lathered in sampled drums, synthesizers and loops… which will really appeal to some people but kind of flew over my head.

At times I can hear influence from The Naked and Famous, Metro Station ( remember that horrible “shake it” song From 2009?) and U2 (the Zooropa era) so clearly Jason has a very hip and current sound happening on his debut solo EP, something mainstream radio listeners will really get into, and as it says in his Soundcloud description people might “shake their hips”.

One thing I have a hard time envisioning is performing the songs live, perhaps he will do a Chris Cornell and just strip them back live to basic arrangements but then could go the opposite way as well… but as far as the EP goes, I was personally hoping for something with a little more of a human feel to it. It’s a very slick and polished release and I’m sure it’s completely intentional, therefore a success in its own right regardless of my opinion of production style.

All that aside though Kerrison has a great voice which I have always thought so, and this is really shown on the last track, On My Own. This particular song is where I thought the EP would go when I was coming into it. As a musician I understand the want to try new things and expand on your audience and writing but as a fan I think less production and gloss would have done the songs more justice, as I really enjoy listening to Jason’s ballad style songs, he has a great knack for capturing real emotion in his voice with the right song choice and songs like I Don’t Care What They Think seem to be purpose-made for radio with somewhat empty lyrics and cliché programming driving it. I’m genuinely curious to hear what he brings out in the future but #JKEP1 didn’t quench my thirst.