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For the past ten years, Brighton-based artist Jacko Hooper has collaborated with and promoted a countless number of successful artists such as Bastille, James Blunt, and Passenger to name a few. Through his promotions company Folklore Sessions, he helped shape many of these successful artists’ biggest records, and it was only time for him to release his debut album of his own entitled “Respair”.

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The second track from the debut album and the first to be released as a single is “Getting No Place Fast”. The track is an Indie/Folk/Synth Rock dreamy journey that depicts (along with the rest of the upcoming album) how Jacko had to re-learn how to live after the pandemic and its unpleasant repercussions on his life. From a musical standpoint, the track shows an amazing lead synth melody, clean guitars, and clear raw-sounding drums. The vocals are the cherry on top with their production style and how they soar over the chord progression and how Jacko howls and uses his head voice to harmonize with himself. It’s a great songwriting decision in my opinion and it gave the song such a wonderful and memorable imprint that’s bound to be stuck in your head once you hear it. Last but not least, those personal and self-aware lyrics are the cherry on top of this masterful piece of work. I really have to highlight that this song is easy to digest for a mainstream listener and yet it keeps its touch of brilliance that makes you know it had a lot of work on the details that define it. 

In conclusion, it’s been so long since the music industry has seen songs that are catchy and iconic but also dense in their songwriting. It seems like Jacko Hooper knows no such thing as compromising either style or substance, and after years of successful work and experience, it’s great to see him release such a promising single under his own name. I know for sure that I’ll be among those who will pre-save the entire album on streaming platforms to discover the rest of Jacko’s creative and personal story.