Jonathan Jeremiah has confirmed details of his new album, Horsepower For The Streets, and the release today of the record’s title track as its opening taster. Due for release on September 9, the album is the London-based singer-songwriter’s fifth, as well as his second for [PIAS] Recordings.
The new song is arguably the essence of Jonathan’s musical output. His vibrant soulful voice and deep lyrics, meet a groovy rhythm section and insanely well-arranged strings that are reminiscent of iconic productions by Lalo Schifrin, Michael Kiwanuka and Terry Callier.
The album opener might conjure up images of boy racers, revved up emotions. In actual fact, it’s a quote from an old acquaintance in Berlin, a rallying cry, a positive vibe. The single arrives just in time after a couple of years which, let’s be honest, have been pretty tough going. This is an album of its time, of hardships endured, rhodium thieves sighted across the road, sirens wailing on their way to the hospital – while the songwriter sings: “So come bring it in sisters if you need it / I’ve cut you new rhythm for your spirits / ‘Cause it’s a wild world / That’s why I’m sending it / All my love, harmony and horsepower for the streets“.
“Perhaps knowing I’m a detached character in many ways, that doesn’t stop me from caring or wanting to show some love and attention to others“, Jonathan adds. “I guess I just think I could show such things through song.”
Jonathan Jeremiah’s first, acclaimed album – A Solitary Man, described by the BBC as “elegant and soulful, a luscious artefact of 1970s songwriting class” – was released in 2011. It earned gold status in Holland, where it charted at No.3, and also reached No. 11 in Germany and Belgium. Two further albums, 2012’s Gold Dust and 2015’s Oh Desire, earned him further accolades, not least a phone call from legendary James Bond composer John Barry.
Much of the new album was written in Saint-Pierre-De-Côle, the countryside beyond Bordeaux, during breaks in Jeremiah’s first tour of France, before the album was recorded in a renovated monumental church in Amsterdam, with Amsterdam Sinfonietta, a 20-piece string orchestra.