Album Review: Jack Garratt, Pillars

Pillars’ lead single ‘Catherine Wheel’ comes bounding out of the traps, and you feel it marks a line in the sand for English singer Jack Garratt. Following the release of his 2020 album Love, Death & Dancing, Garratt entered a period of confusion and writer’s block.

He even considered quitting music, but retreated to his roots, and abided by the dictate of legendary composer Stephen Sondheim: “Content dictates form, all in the service of clarity” (a line Garratt has inked on his arm). Add to that risk and gamble – in 2023, the singer released the club-facing Hands Go Up EP on OG dance label Skint, which kickstarted this new era.

The gospel-soaked ‘Ready! Steady! Go!’ brings on the electro-funk, while ‘Shaftesbury Avenue’ serves up a delicious slice of synth-soul, layered with a complex alloy of post-rock, jazzy breakbeats and singer-songwriter chops. The mischievously titled ‘Flower Girl Confetti, Hopeful Fidelity Lasts’ impishly switches genres from dream-pop through gospel, before toppling into choral plainchant.

Recent single ‘Higher’, meanwhile, flings down an alluring house breakbeat – emphasising that Garratt is rejuvenated and ready for road.

7/10