Having taken a two-year hiatus, the release of Tom Odell’s third album was both long-awaited and surrounded by high expectations. Jubilee Road, an album full of fictionalised tales of Odell’s life in an East London terraced house, certainly does not disappoint.

Inspired by the lives of those around him at this point of his life, it has a palpable sense of character and nostalgia which is a slight departure from Odell’s previous work. Whilst his earlier releases are predominantly reflections and lamentations on lost love, Jubilee Road expands these themes, as the titular opening track details observations on the fictitious Jubilee Road and its inhabitants. It is ambitious and bristling with emotion, a combination prevalent throughout the ten-track album.

Despite this slight shift in style, there are a multitude of moments on the album which embody what has become signature for Odell. ‘Half as Good as You’, featuring Alice Merton, is a stunning return to the melancholic, lovelorn songs of his past albums. The combination of Odell’s hauntingly vulnerable yet simultaneously impressive vocals and Merton’s own incredible range renders the track almost angelic. This is an artist who once provided the soundtrack for a particularly heart-warming John Lewis advert, so perhaps it is no surprise that Odell is well-versed in pulling at the heartstrings.

As a whole, Jubilee Road is an enticing rollercoaster of emotions. It has uplifting, buoyant moments like ‘China Dolls’, but also the starkly contrasting, darker moments that are characteristic of Odell and his penchant for soaring piano ballads, like the bittersweet album closer, ‘Wedding Day’. Arguably, there is a level of predictability to the album, as a lot of it is reminiscent of previous releases. Whilst it does possess these familiar idiosyncrasies of Tom Odell, however, Jubilee Road amplifies them to create an album undoubtedly worth waiting for.  

Neive McCarthy

Header image via Tom Odell