Jeremy Warmsley - The Boat Song / Temptation

Ah, lovely Jeremy Warmsley. Who is he? What does he do? We’ve all heard that traditional British name floating about for years, but whether he’s actually pricked up the ears of a singer-songwriting fanbase is questionable. He’s toured with Regina Spektor and The Shins, but does he actually do any tours of his own? Who knows, this Warmsley is a massive enigma, albeit one with a very lovely voice.

Emmy the Great compliments Warmsley’s vocals on new single ‘The Boat Song’, in a blissful and swashbuckling duet. It sounds nice enough (how could it not with Warmsley’s pitch perfect smooth voice?) but it seems to go round and round on an endlessly repetitive verse-chorus structure. The pointless lyrics, ‘One boat for you and, one boat for me, we sail away on the never-ending sea’ begs the question whether the shoreline of this never-ending sea brings with it the end of the track, and if so, couldn’t they have sailed a little faster?

The saving grace of this three track release is the surprisingly brilliant cover of New Order’s ‘Temptation’. It’s an unassuming and graceful ode to a classic, replacing the jagged electronics of the original with a charming piano and Warmsley’s soft and effortless choral. It maintains New Order’s perfectly bittersweet pop formula.

We’re still not sure we completely understand Jeremy. But his songs are inoffensive, he is half French, and he looks like a sweet chap you could bring home to your Mother. He has also paid homage to a wonderful song with respect and rejuvenation, leaving his own fingerprint. This is why we like Jeremy Warmsley.