CJ Reardon is a new folk/pop singer-songwriter from London who has recently been seen performing alongside bands such as Bastille and Maverick Sabre. The singer has also been gaining attention from the likes of BBC introducing, Spindle magazine and Greg James from BBC Radio 1. This week I took a listen to Reardon’s new single ‘Bombay’ to find out what all the fuss is about.
Upon listening to ‘Bombay’ you can easily hear why the singer-songwriter has been grabbing attention from the mainstream. The song certainly fit’s the mould of most popular music today and you wouldn’t imagine it having too many problems making it onto most commercial radio stations. Although ‘Bombay’ may play it safe and isn’t particularly ground breaking for it’s genre, Reardon’s unique vocals, along with its dream like instrumentation do enough to make it stand out.
The song mostly revolves around a hazy guitar melody and shuffling drum beat and does a great job of painting a picture in your head. Whilst listening I found myself been gently drifted away to lazy summer days that have long since passed. The song’s piano part in particular is a really nice feature and helps add brightness to the song. I think it could’ve been more prominent throughout the song and hope to hear Reardon experiment more with this in the future. Another nice feature is Reardon’s vocal delivery which is reminiscent of Wesley Schultz from The Lumineers with a very pure and innocent quality which lends itself well to the soft instrumentation.
‘Bombay’ is a good taste of what’s to come from CJ Reardon but I feel he’s still in a transitional period of trying to find his unique sound and identity as an artist. This is evident in his lyrics which centre around moving to the city and leaving the past behind you. “I took a journey to the city, put the beach and seas behind me, now this city’s my home. I’m new around the block, I took a chance all on my own and there’s nothing like the great unknown”. I’m left curious to see how Reardon will find himself and develop his music in the coming months and years. The singer-songwriters next release will definitely be one to watch out for!
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