‘An absence of meeting expectations ensures your attention is held throughout’
JP O’Grady, known as Citizen Papes has released his new EP Gramophone. A 6-track folk-pop journey taking him back to his Scottish roots with a more personal sound than prior releases. Born and raised in Scotland, though moved to Texas at 16, JP is back in Britain and using this record to re-connect with his home. Gramophone has already secured him a feature on Radio 1’s Future Pop show with high praise from presenter Maia Beth.
The EP begins with Half Way Home, an opening that captures a tinge of the late 2000s Jasan Mraz-esq style of folk-pop. Full of gentle acoustics and soft vocals, creating a great catchy tune that is ripe for the end credits of a Romcom. Although JP adds a modern sheen to this proven genre through many layers of vocal harmony, which takes an otherwise intimate sounding piece and opens it right up.
The EP is split pretty evenly between folky Bob Dylan adjacent songs that are lyrically detailed, though musically sparse such as, ‘Just U and Me’, which is full of addictive vocal melodies and soothing piano. Which contrasts the more pop focused songs that are more akin to Papes earlier EP ‘For You’.
For example the likes of, ’Unbelievable’ carries a Capaldi-esq sombre quality in the verses but is decorated with a rather jazzy saxophone and handclap chorus. This straddling of genres gives the EP a nice flow, as an absence of meeting expectations ensures your attention is held throughout.
Papes talks about the final track on the EP that’ gives the collection of songs its name , Gramophone, “It’s definitely over the top, but that’s the frame of mind a lot of us find ourselves in right after a breakup – romanticising the best bits and dramatising the worst.”
Citizen Papes is touring Europe at the start of 2025 playing Glasgow’s McChullis on February 8th, his first ever gig in Scotland, make sure not to miss it.