Album review: Jack Garratt turns pop conventions on their heads

Jack Garratt, "Phase" (Interscope)

One listen to this debut, and all the excitement about the 24-year-old British singer-songwriter-producer suddenly makes sense. Take Ed Sheeran's knack for writing simple, memorable melodies, weld it to the forward-­thinking, groove-oriented electronic soundscapes of James Blake and you have a guy who sounds like pop from the future. There's an electronic hum that sits behind Garratt's warm voice on "I Know All What I Do" that is initially the only marker that this is a new creation. Then he stacks feedback layers to add drama and intensity for his simple tale. He manages a similar trick on "The Love You're Given" with an operatic loop that serves as a guide as Garratt moves from restrained to soulful, before it explodes into a fuzzy EDM drop and clattering cymbals. Garratt seems to relish turning current pop conventions on their heads. On "Worry," he fashions an emotional bit of "London soul" that would have easily fit on a Sam Smith or Disclosure album. And that's what has Garratt supporters so excited. On "Phase," he matches current hitmakers on their home turf and then takes it to the next level.