James Morrison launched his upcoming refreshed ‘Greatest Hits’ album by sharing its lead single ‘Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?’. Placing his inimitable vocal in a Rudimental-esque dance-pop banger, the track offered something completely different to his back catalogue but continued his success, earning a place on the Radio 2 playlist.
Now James Morrison provides a bigger insight into the direction of his ‘Greatest Hits’ album by sharing his newly reworked version of ‘You Give Me Something’. It’s the song which immediately marked him out as a remarkable new talent with huge crossover appeal. Peaking at #5 during a six-week run in the Top 10, it was subsequently certified Platinum in recognition of over 600,000 domestic sales. And despite being released before streaming took-off, its ongoing popularity means it has accumulated 125 million streams at Spotify alone.
The refreshed ‘You Give Me Something’ gives the song a new leash of life while respecting the traits that have made it a fan favourite. Less pop-orientated and more in keeping with James’ organic live sound, the differences are remarkably natural: vocal melodies in place of the strings in the introduction, a groovier middle-eight rather than the brass arrangement of the original, and an emotive guitar solo. But the main factor is the evolution of James’s voice. The years that have passed have added a new layer to his vocal, not only in terms of maturity but fresh soul and confidence too.
James says, “Back then, I was thinking of loads of weird stuff like Nirvana, and it sounds nothing like Nirvana! And I was thinking about Nina Simone. I wanted it to sound like summer, and to sound sad, and to sound joyous in the chorus, with a slightly R&B flavour. But it was one of those songs that wrote itself, pretty much. I was just trying stuff – when I put the brass in, I thought it was swinging, like Frank Sinatra. And when we pieced it all together, I just thought it was cool.
It captured a moment in my career. And, now, I wanted to try to make it capture another moment, with this sound that was a bit hip-hop, just to sit on that beat.”
