Jack and the'
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Jack and the'

Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom | INDIE

Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom | INDIE
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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"Album review - Popnews"

"If the first High Llamas or the few good songs from Hal are ones of your i-Pod favorites, then you are likely to love Jack and the’s music.
Vacation (a Pop Manifesto) is a sunny escapade, an oasis of happiness, a celebration of musical happiness so joyful that it is impossible to resist to its melodic hooks."
Gildas Le Pallec (Popnews - France) - Popnews


"Album review - Amazing Radio"

Yes, you read that right, Jack and the‘. This week’s Showcase artist is proving once and for all why punctuation (and great tunes) are amongst the most important things in life.
Why DC thinks it’s so good: ‘Yes, they’re sitting in the shade of that big umbrella of 60's influences and retro styling. Look a little closer, however, and you’ll see they’ve only got their feet under – the rest of them is building a wonderfully odd umbrella all of their very own out of extended whistling solos and songs about buses, puppeteers and Norwegian lakes. Jack and the ‘ make their case clear from the offset with their impossible to Google name: They’re not afraid of getting a little weird. On the surface they’re 60's revivalists, but dig a little deeper and you’ll see they’ve got more in common with the Elephant 6 Collective and artists like Olivia Tremor Control than anything that blossomed earlier. Saturated in warm sepia tones, ‘Vacation (A Pop Manifesto)’ is a free-spirited record, ideal for a lazy afternoon in the sun.’
Dani Charlton (Amazing Radio - UK) - Amazing Radio


"Album review - Fatea Showcase"

Grammaticists take note - the apostrophe in Jack and the' is an integral part of the project named by Frenchman in exile in Edinburgh, Julien Lonchamp. Right, now that's cleared up, time to carry on being impressed by the breezy, harmony-driven, baroque 'n' roll of this charmingly chirpy missive.

Johnny the Storywriter paints the picture of down-by-the Seine jauntiness, Serge et Jane vocal cooings and ye-ye rhyming couplets. Naming a track Thelonius Monk & John Coltrane may be a bit obvious, but it wears its black turtleneck so well you can forgive it anything. The same goes for Fifties Dress, with its Pet Sounds outtake structure, Smile demo sound and Cat Stevens cleverness. The mood pervades the entire album with a dash of banjo here, a warm whistle there, Dean Friedman piano chords and John Shroeder arrangements.

The instrumentation is tellingly augmented by the Apostrophe Ensemble's clarinet, trombone, violin and cello as Lonchamp invokes the entire High Llamas oeuvre, The Divine Comedy, McCartney's first solo records and makes you wish Dennis Wilson had made more music on his own.

Be warned, Vacation will steal your heart… and you won't want it back.

Nick Churchill (Fate Showcase - UK)
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk - Fatea Showcase


"Album review - Hotpress"

“a smooth, laidback sound that swings along like a horizontal Steely Dan meets Beautiful South […] brimful of glorious harmonies […] good Beatles-ish keyboards, McCartney-esque vocals and a feelgood sensibility”
Jackie Hayden (Hotpress - Ireland) - Hotpress


"Article - L'Est Republicain"

“With talent, Julien Lonchamp (aka Jack and the’) composes songs with catchy melodies and original rhythms, making him a dignified successor of Brian Wilson.”
Benoit Gaudibert (L'Est Republicain - France) - L'Est Republicain


Discography

2012: Release of debut album "Vacation (a pop manifesto)" on Folkwit Records

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Bio

Jack and the’ is a pop project led by Julien Lonchamp, a Frenchman in exile in Edinburgh.

Vacation (a pop manifesto), Jack and the’s debut album, was written during Julien’s unfortunate PhD in food science in Dublin. Swapping research on lettuce and cabbage aromas for orchestration and sound engineering, he then proceeded to record the album, which was subsequently mixed by the crème de la crème of French pop: Orwell, Variety Lab and Cascadeur.

The idea behind Vacation was to combine catchy melodies with elaborate orchestrations and song structures inspired by orchestral music and jazz. Originally available in Thailand via Smallroom Records, Vacation was released in the UK on Folkwit Records in June 2012.

Live-wise, the band performs as a quintet (vocals/guitar, flute/saxophone, bass, keyboards/clarinet/trumpet and drums). Since 2012 Jack and the' has performed in major Scottish venues, including Glasgow City Halls, the Traverse Theatre, the Electric Circus or the Jazz Bar. The band is also behind a series of concerts in Edinburgh named Pop Exchange, in which they invite another band from the pop sphere for a gig and an impromptu musical collaboration.

Jack and the' is currently mixing a second album that sees the band venturing into the fields of orchestral pop. Flute, clarinet, trombone, vibraphone, cello but also banjo or sitar populate this new sound, somewhere between pop, chamber music and jazz. The album features 18 musicians, including the 8-piece Apostrophe Ensemble which also regularly performs live with the band.