‘Calm Down Dearest’ - Jamie T, 2007
“Drunk already, maybe drink got spiked” is the line that perfectly sums up this song from Jamie T’s debut album, Panic Prevention. I really like this album, and wasn’t sure whether ‘Calm Down Dearest’ or ‘Alicia Quays’ would be the best one to write about. In the end, I picked this, because it’s the song that got me into Wimbledon’s finest, and also because the video’s a riot. You can hear more of his songs on his MySpace page.
‘Calm Down Dearest’ is (I think) just a song about a night out in London, and is vintage Jamie T, with some witty lines that sum up his worldview: “This is a good time to start dancin’ to this song, man”, “Drink your can, walk it drunk down the strand”, “Racking and stacking them lines”, and so on. His lyrics are affectionate nods to ATM queues, drink-fuelled weekends, waking up on the subway, going “twos on a cigarette”, and other vignettes of modern English life.
Musically, ‘Calm Down Dearest’ is actually quite poppy, in a lo-fi way. It’s got a good reggae-ish feel, with bassy keyboard chords and a nice bass line. The strings used in the song feel right, as opposed to something like ‘Dry Your Eyes’.
I like the Panic Prevention album, and it’ll be interesting to see what Jamie T comes up with next. Anyway, here’s the video for the song - for some reason I crack up whenever I watch this.
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