Jon Grayson is a singer songwriter originally from the Medway Towns region of Kent, but now living in London, whose ‘Stranger’ EP was released late last year. The 4 track record has a pop-rock flavour with touches of reggae in parts.
Catch Jon Grayson performing tonight at The Islington with his full band headline show.
Brought up on a diet of The Police, City and Colour, and Fleetwood Mac, Jon moved to London in 2014, where he spent two years working on his craft, and building up a loyal following. He cut his chops by playing gigs all over the Capital, as well as in his hometown of Chatham, and in 2016, while playing at The Garage, Islington, Jon met Jack Watson, best known for his work with Jack + Ella, and Changing Colour. Jon and producer Jack forged a strong bond and spent the following 18 months writing and creating songs and music.
‘Stranger’ is a pop rock EP which is characterised by Jon’s clear strong voice, accompanied by excellent instrumentation and rhythms. The title track is very catchy, with the guitar work pulling everything together. We really enjoyed the bridge, which made good use of Jon’s falsetto. We’ve listened to this track a few times now and it’s definitely our favourite, but to be fair, all the songs are very very good.
‘Crept Up To The Water’ feels like it’s been designed for streaming, there’s no instrumental lead in, the vocals are immediate. We felt like Jon was channelling Brandon Flowers with this track – his vocals were tinged with something very akin to Flowers’ characteristic emotion.
‘Heaven Won’t Hold Us’ has a Caribbean-Reggae feel, again starting out with the song title, not leading in with a long instrumental break, but instead capturing the listener right from the get go. Grayson’s voice is rich and pure, and the repeated refrain, of ‘Heaven won’t hold us now’ is very catchy.
Final track on the EP, ‘Novelist’, opens with vocalisation, captivating the listener. Grayson’s influences – particularly The Police, are clear in this track. There’s some clever lyricism in this track with, “you’re getting carpal tunnel” a particularly nice euphemistic metaphor.
You can stream and download ‘Stranger’ from Spotify, Soundcloud, and iTunes. Find Jon Grayson online on Facebook and Instagram.
Catch Jon Grayson performing tonight at The Islington with his full band headline show. You can get tickets here.
