Jake Bugg — On His Own Terms

Jake Bugg was barely out of his teens when the world decided who he was

Fourteen years, six albums and a hell of a lot of road later, he's finally had the chance to work a few things out for himself.

On November 13, the Nottingham singer-songwriter returns with Alamo, his seventh studio album and perhaps the most revealing record he's made.

There's also been a fairly significant change behind the scenes. For the first time in his career, Jake Bugg is an independent artist, releasing through Thirty Tigers after spending his entire recording life inside the major-label system. The timing feels right.

Now 32, Bugg has found his way back towards the roots, blues, folk and rock 'n' roll that first made people pay attention to a skinny teenager from Nottingham with an old soul, an acoustic guitar and a voice that didn't sound much like anybody else on British radio.

Only this time, there's a lot more life behind the songs. Bringing the walls down Alamo wasn't made because it was time to make another Jake Bugg record. It sounds like it was made because Bugg needed to make it.

“After all the years of touring and making records, it just felt like the right time to look inward,” he says.

“The last couple of years have been tough for me, and I’ve had a lot of struggles. I’m trying to navigate those and figure out where they stem from.”

That meant doing something that hasn't always come naturally. Letting people in.

“Alamo was only going to work if I was going to be honest and be as vulnerable as possible. I’ve always had a lot of defences and barriers around me. I thought it was time to bring those down.”

That shift runs through the album's 11 songs. The opening “When The Night” finds Bugg wrestling with isolation and the uncomfortable experience of being left alone with your own thoughts.

The title track heads into the wreckage of a relationship that's coming apart, while **“Cloud In The Sky”** digs further backwards, attempting to untangle things from the past that apparently weren't quite as buried as he thought.

This isn't teenage Jake Bugg writing about the world outside his window. He's looking inward now. Who do you trust?

New single “Never Can Tell” gives that introspection a little more movement.

It's a rollicking slice of Bugg's rootsier side, but underneath it sits another lesson learned over a decade and a half in the music business, Be careful who you trust.

After years spent navigating success, touring and the collection of people that inevitably gathers around somebody with a hit record, Bugg has learned to rely a little more heavily on his own instincts.

And it's difficult not to connect that sentiment with where he finds himself today. Independent. Making the music he wants. On his own terms. What happens when you get there too early?

Jake Bugg's story was unusual from the beginning. His self-titled debut arrived in 2012 when he was still a teenager and went straight to No. 1 in the UK, eventually becoming triple platinum.

Suddenly, this kid who sounded like he'd been digging through old folk, blues and rock 'n' roll records his entire life was playing some of the biggest stages in the world.

America followed. Television appearances. Tours. Festivals. More records. By the age most musicians are still trying to convince somebody to give them a support slot, Jake Bugg already had the career.

There's an obvious downside to that kind of early success. You don't get much time to figure out who you are before everybody else starts telling you.