Jack Garratt - Breathe Life

Cast Jack Garratt in a different pair of shoes, take away the goofy charm and production knowhow, and his songs would still do big things. Like previous single ‘Weathered’, ‘Breathe Life’ could be a sappy singer-songwriter blubfest if it fancied. And as Garratt races into 2016 as the go-to new name - a dead cert for the BBC Sound Of if ever there was one - it’s hard to argue that his doe-eyed sentiment does get him places.

But on his best track to date, the Londoner exhibits so much more than earnest lyrics like “tell her I owe it to her”. As the song progresses from deep-thinking verses to shimmering synth blitzes, it begins to develop a life of its own, the kind giving Garratt is own unique platform of being more than just an ambitious one-man machine. An emotional mid-section could be mistaken for a Thom Yorke solo verse, and there’s even room for a clattering, Samba-style coda. Jack Garratt is the opposite of a one trick pony, and he’s only just beginning to show his hand.