Pullin’ ‘Tubes | Rick Rubin Brings Jake Bugg To Shangri La

Every few years some young gun singer-songwriter emerges with an arsenal of well-crafted wise-beyond-their-years songs and is declared the “next Dylan,” by music writers. This lofty title has been dumped onto the likes of Donovan, John Prine, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and Conor Oberst. Sure it’s a badge of honor to have that title bestowed onto you, but for all the successes of the aforementioned artists, there are scores of others who never quite even lived up to the title of the “next Gordon Lightfoot” – Canada’s version of the “next Dylan.”

[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

The club continues to welcome members with its newest being Jake Bugg. The 19-year-old comes to us from across the pond, where he is currently a sort of a “pretty big deal,” having been nominated for a slew of British music awards, including taking home one for Best New Act at the Q Awards. Last year Bugg’s self-titled debut album, which topped the charts in the U.K., got its release stateside. The 14-track record showcases his smartly written tunes that pull influences from the likes of The Beatles, Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers, as well as nodding to ’90s Brit-pop acts like Oasis.

For his follow-up Bugg headed to the U.S. to team up with uber-producer Rick Rubin, and recorded it at the famed Shangri La studios, where Dylan, Eric Clapton and The Band all laid down albums in the 1970’s. Released earlier this week, Bugg’s sophomore album – Shangri La – once again features the lyrical spitfire vigor of early 1960’s Bob Dylan mixed with 1950’s rockabilly and skiffle sounds, but also finds Rubin pushing in punk-ier sounds from his contemporaries the Arctic Monkeys.

Let’s check out the music video for the album’s lead single -“Slumville Sunrise”:

Written By: Jeffrey Greenblatt