TENNANT SUPER
by Sam Lambeth
Look out rock and roll, there’s a new tenant in town....or should that be Tennant? And instead of paying a flat fee every month, he’s blowing us away with songs that sparkle and slay. Sam Lambeth finds out more.
When you listen to Jay Tennant for the first time, you instantly close your eyes. Not only to absorb the anthemics suddenly surrounding you, but to picture the movie it could soundtrack.
You see, the West Midlands warbler doesn’t do standard songs – he makes polished, primed and perfect slices of cinematic rock and roll. Every riff is sinewy, every bassline buffed, every drum fill phenomenal.
It’s the music equivalent of a Bond epic – thrilling, suspenseful, uplifting, light-hearted and menacing. It’s a thrill-a-minute romp that has ensured Tennant has been labelled the best thing to come out of Coventry since the Rover 500.
“I think a Jay Tennant song needs to have strong melodies, passion and hopefully exciting music. Lyrically, I like to write stories or scenarios that are hopefully intriguing and communicate something about the human condition,” Tennant explains.
“I’ll keep working until I’m happy that the vocal melody parts and chord structures are all in place, and then I write the lyrics. I’ll keep writing and editing until I’m happy that the lyrics are complete and then I’ll generally write guitar riffs and synth ideas last.”
2021 has, arguably, been Tennant’s most successful year yet. His newest single, Journey Into the Night, is an arms-aloft, open-highway anthem about love that is impossible to ignore.
“It’s an intimate and devoted love story,” admits Tennant. “This whole album is inspired by a muse, if you like, but I guess it’s all an imagined romance really. I do feel it brought the best out of me though and that all the songs are really strong.”
Where this muse is now remains to be seen, but they have been responsible for some of Tennant’s most terrific tunes, including the surging Spectre and the pulsating Poker Polka.
With album number three set to land soon, Tennant has also bagged himself some impressive gigs around the country.
“I’m supporting SHADER in Birmingham on 20th November and then supporting Arcade State and The Shop Window in Manchester on 19th March 2022. All three of these bands are absolute class so it’s a real pleasure to be on the bill with them,” he beams.
“I can’t wait for the gigs! Both will be full-band so that’s really exciting, but I would definitely be open to doing some more acoustic gigs as well alongside that.”
It seems Tennant’s future, like his music, could be part of one exciting movie.