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Going right back to the days when industry bigwigs, sharks and money men realised there was serious cash to be made out of rock’n’roll, there’s been a rush to discover musicians who have that celebrated (and lucrative) star quality. If we believe the myths, those people arrive with it fully formed and ready for adoration. But the truth is it takes work to ignite that spark.
De’Wayne, from Houston, Texas, has it in abundance, but it’s taken toil and nurturing an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music – his eclectic output so far has taken in classic and alternative rock, soul, jazz, hip-hop and Americana on his journey to work out a formula for the perfect blend of the rock’n’roll he grew up with and the rock’n’roll of the future. The world at large might yet be to bite in terms of traditional media (although the streamers of the world have already switched on), but his self-assurance screams that he knows he has that special ‘it’
June, his third album, finds him mining the sounds of the 80s and 90s for inspiration. A deeply loved-up record, it stands to reason that the imprints of Prince are stamped into the yelps, raw sexiness and rooster strut of much of it. Opener Lady Lady is a horndog rocker in the 90s Lenny Kravitz mould, De’Wayne’s gleaming riffs speaking as loudly as his words, and Forever could easily be Prince hooking up with Fame-era David Bowie.
Sundays has ‘massive hit’ written all over it, a huge, windswept stadium pop-rock singalong of the type that TV talent shows tend to pilfer for the Christmas No.1 slot. What Does He Really Know changes tack once again, a bouncing slice of indie rock that sweetly characterises a kid running away to discover himself.
De’Wayne has pulled off a clever trick of weaving in those signifiers of the 80s – Talking Heads percussion, brassy synths, squealing sax – without ever sounding retro. There’s a cool economy at play too, each track short, snappy and to the point, not outstaying its welcome.
Bursting with heart and character, June is the sound of a musician with grand ambitions but enough soul to stay likeable. And clearly, that star quality is ready to shine.
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