‘Nobody’ stands next in a long line of Owen Lamont’s singles leading up to his debut album set to be released in early 2021. What starts as a lone, low-key rhythm guitar, quickly gives way to Lamont’s powerful voice. There are similarities to the likes of Hozier in his tone and easy listening in his instrumentals which share folk, bluegrass and rock backgrounds. The five minute track builds gradually, culminating in a glorious horn solo two minutes in before continuing onwards and resting again in brass before the final chorus. The walking tempo gathers speed in the final moments before folding musically and lyrically. Lamont’s lyrics are simple story-telling of a fear of a life without love, the repeated choruses and sturdy framework of the verses keeping the track grounded in anticipation of the instrumental interludes.
Lamont has been around the block a few times. In the early 2000s he was a member of Belfast based band ‘The Delawares’ which garnered him the attention of blues veterans Henry Mccullough, Devon Sproule and Bap Kennedy. Since 2017 he has eased into a solo career, taking his time with none of the nervous energy of young upstarts. In 2018 he was selected as one of four Northern Irish artists to perform in Nashville’s iconic Bluebird café.
Despite his solo sought career, Lamont accepts collaboration with grace. In the past he has worked on a remix of his song ‘Hold On’ with Avro Party and, the video for this single, was a project for animation students at Teesside University in Middleborough. The warm toned sketches depicting Lamont and his band along with visual representation of musical notes is not unlike Jealous of the Bird’s ‘Something Holy’ illustrated video.
With an album that has been in the pipeline since his 2017 re-emergence, ‘Nobody’ continues to set a scene slowly taking form. Following the earlier singles ‘You’ and ‘i-Revolution’ released this year, ‘Nobody’ teases and whets an appetite for the oncoming record.
