A Touch Of Jean-ious

By Joe Kavanagh

Strange as it seems, there was a time not so long ago when the phrase 'You don't sound like anyone else' often was a harbinger of headaches in the career of a music act, irrespective of whether the expression was meant as a compliment or not.

Until very recently, record companies were not the biggest fans of 'different' sounding bands because, from where they were standing, such acts required more resources and veered from the concept of production line economics, where it is far less costly to knock out retreads of the same idea to the same audience, until said trend has been flogged to death.

Rarely is there money in anything that is absolutely new in the music world and, consequently, it's a large reason why new sounds or movements always emerge on the underground first.

Whether it's rock n' roll, punk, hip hop or jazz, one thing all of these genres have in common is the fact that, in their early days, they were all dismissed by record companies as not being commercial sounding enough or simply that they were beyond the box that the record company viewed as its remit.

Another symptom of this commercial machine is its love of labels, which is basically a convenient - but not always accurate - way of describing how you sound in order to give the marketing department something to work with.

Hence, today we have punk rock, hard rock, soft rock, adult-oriented rock, space rock, math rock, rap rock, etc., etc.

If an act operated outside these convenient parameters, they were more likely to be treated like pariahs as opposed to innovators, by an industry that largely does not like surprises.

Thankfully that day is gone and the internet may have killed the music industry as we know it, but it has also fractured these staid norms into a million little pieces, allowing people access to a range of musical styles that was inconceivable only a decade or so ago.

In the past, if you and your friends formed neo-spectralist-gabba-hop act, your chances of finding an audience lay somewhere between slim and not a prayer, but thanks to the internet, you can now actually find the 14 people that are into that kind of music.

Consider another change: say your group was successful, signed a deal and began working on an album, but suddenly decided that you no longer felt the love for neo-spectralist-gabba-hop and decided instead to use different styles for different songs.

Instead of congratulating you on expanding your horizons, the label would most likely remind you that they hired you as a neo-spectralist-gabba-hop act and that's what their customers expect when they buy your product, so drop the nonsense. You are a product and you must do what it says on the tin that the record company has decided to package you in.

Leon Jean Marie offers a prime example of the new kind of artist emerging in recent years.

Despite all of his unquestioned talent, he would most likely have struggled mightily to achieve any kind of success under the old system but thanks to this paradigm shift, he is now celebrated as one of the most important new artists to arrive in Europe.

Born in St Lucia, Jean Marie and his family moved to London's East End when he was still just a boy, opening him to a wide new range of experiences, none of which captured his imagination quite like music.

It was through his father that the touch paper was lit, first when he brought his young son over to the house of a friend who had a drum kit and later when he purchased a guitar for his 15-year-old son.

Enthralled by his new toy, Jean Marie hit the ground running, seeking to emulate heroes like Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Badly Drawn Boy and Prince.

By the time he was a teenager, he had signed on with four other local teens to form boyband, Syndicate, who used a local recording studio to create a demo that they felt would be their ticket to the big time.

As it happened, the band never came close to achieving their dream, but one of the studio owners saw something in the enthusiasm and raw talent of Jean Marie, offering him a job as a runner.

It proved a discerning move as their new employee became what is known as a 'studio rat,' spending all his time learning to work the recording desk and learning a host of new musical instruments.

In his own mind, he had found his true calling but his church-going parents viewed music as more hobby than career and soon began to push their son to attend university and get a degree.

After some argument, he obliged, attending a course in performing arts at a local college and eventually was offered a place in university.

Predictably, a huge row ensued when he informed his parents that he had no intention of accepting the place and he left home, initially taking up residence in his car.

The next eight months provided the kind of crucible that can break some people, as his life descended into a mire of drink, drugs and sexual adventure.

Moving in and around London, he slept on friends' floors, porches and in his trusty car as he continued his descent into what he would later describe as depression and darkness.

It was only when his father suffered a cancer scare that he returned home to make peace and though his parents remained skeptical, they eventually gave him their blessing in his career path. It would prove a prudent move.

Although he had not been recording during his time away from home, his mind was continually bombarded with ideas for songs and he now set about transforming his vision into something tangible.

By 2006, word had begun to filter throughout the UK music industry about a new wunderkind producer that had emerged on the scene and by year's end he had already worked with names like Amy Winehouse, Robbie Williams and Lily Allen.

Initially, he was happy with his role as a producer, but, anxious to create the songs he heard so readily in his head and driven on by those around him, Jean Marie began working on his own ideas and signed a contract with Island Records.

By 2007, he was out on the road, testing his material on audiences throughout the UK.

Another break came when super-producer, Mark Ronson, came across one of Jean Marie's tracks and was so blown away by its innovation that he immediately offered his services to produce his debut album.

As this year opened, Jean Marie found himself shuttling between New York, London and Sweden, working on the album, just as the public first began to read of this precocious talent with an air for a killer melody and a flair for invention.

Last week the world finally got to appreciate what all the big fuss was about when debut album, Bent Out Of Shape, hit shelves to broad critical praise.

Although some in the British media have dubbed him the new Prince, this is probably as much to do with his skin color as any musical reasons.

A close comparison might be to refer to him as a British Beck because Leon Jean Marie is a genre-defying artist who just happens to write great songs.

Yes there are elements of American soul, hip hop and rock hidden within its recesses but a closer listen will also reveal a hatful of British influences ranging from the Beatles and Kinks to Pulp and 2-Step.

Whether cracking through a rock number, getting down with funk or slinking through a ballad, Leon Jean Marie is a modern musical renaissance man, equally at home in a range of sonic settings, leading to an album of depth, scope and texture.

Certain quarters like to refer to him as a musician of the future but the truth is that Leon Jean Marie is all about now.