"Try" and "Leaving" by Jake Rizzo
Review
It is said of several aspects of life that "a week is a long time" within them: to the list we might now add the career of Jake Rizzo.
Merely a week ago I was happily reviewing his debut single "If You Loved Me" for ‘Hot Music Live' while today I find myself doing similarly for his third one, namely "Leaving". In fact, so dynamic is his career at the moment that I am also reviewing the intervening second single "Try" on this occasion: I simply cannot keep up with this excellent artist's exploding career arc.
Taken like their predecessor from Jake's EP, ‘Live at Metropolis Studios' the songs are produced by Matthew Cotterill and feature other musicians Joe Dolman, Harry Green & Matt Townsend: all names which will resonate with ‘Hot Music Live' readers.
Starting with the "older"track, "Try"shares with the first song Jake's essential immediacy & integrity of performance which the live take captures particularly effectively: while flawless in its execution, the manner of its recording managers to inject a sense of spontaneity beyond what a "normal" production might have done & serves to remind us & inform new listeners of his great abilities as a live performer & his capacity to convey "true" emotional content.
A passionate number, more urgent in tone than "If You Loved Me", "Try" showcases Jake's rockingier side & is propelled by energetic playing by his collaborators.
"Leaving", today's offering, dials the heat back down (can one dial heat? Probably not but I hope you get what I'm trying to say), being a gentler number while losing none of the intensity nor commitment to an emotional truth & on this song the musicians brood intensely with the same quality of belief in Jake's music.
Do these three songs connect? I don't know but they sound like they might do. Even as stand alones they tell the world very convincingly of Jake's skill at writing passionate songs & delivering in a way which convince the listener & connect with their hearts.
How long can he keep this work rate up? Am I going to have to write a "Jake Rizzo Release of the Week" column every Sunday morning?... Well I don't mind in the least.
