Tobias Jesso Jr. – s h i n e
Returning after a 10-year absence, the lapsed singer-songwriter faces the mammoth task of proving his individuality as an artist.
When Tobias Jesso Jr. became one of the singer-songwriters to watch in 2015, he seemed to have filled a void that not many have been able to replace since then. Still, it’s not like there’s ever a right time to clamour for the next big piano balladeer. Jesso Jr. stood out due to his effortless talent, coming at a time when a handful of more (Father John Misty) or less (Alex Cameron) bearded men wanted to broaden their audience and write the next “Honesty.”
Four months after his breakthrough LP, Goon, was released, Jesso Jr. played his last show, never to return. Ultimately, he took the most lucrative—and certainly rational—path when opportunity knocked, becoming a song whisperer for stars like Adele, Justin Bieber, and Harry Styles. His eventual anonymity only magnified his myth, though as the years passed, Jesso Jr.’s craft became a passing curiosity to the few who remembered him.
David Coleman
Over a decade later, Jesso Jr. announced his return so swiftly and inconspicuously that it’s almost as if he’s doing it against his will. It leads one to believe that if he’s using s h i n e, his comeback release, as a test run before diving headfirst into writing a more worthy follow-up to Goon. His initial reveal came in the form of a music video for his first single, I Love You, featuring a pensive Dakota Johnson, thinking deeply as she stares into the void. Funnily enough, the most notable revelation out of all of this is the confirmation that Jesso Jr. has since been riding high and has made a celebrity friend or two in the process.
On s h i n e, Tobias Jr. faces the mammoth task of proving his individuality as an artist. Because Goon, as skilled as it was, mainly proved that he could write a strong set of original material by emulating songs with a classic flair to them. It makes all the more sense how most of the songs on here largely strip any embellishments in place of foolproof piano ballads. Hearing the nondescript “Bridges,” written in collaboration with Julian Buenneta—known for working with One Direction and Sabrina Carpenter—you’re left wondering if Jesso Jr. is attempting to carve out his place in the pop space among the likes of Lewis Capaldi.
Vulnerability is a trait a songwriter earns through their writing, which makes most of Jesso Jr.’s sensitive admissions on s h i n e hard to relate with. While “Green Eyes” has a lovely piano melody, his portrayal as a lost soul who met a woman and saved his life after he’d been living his “selfish ways” seems a little far-fetched. His boyish croon has also lost some of its lustre, as demonstrated on “Rain,” which misses some of the soulful bite that tracks like “Without You” had.
Even then, Jesso Jr. aspired to sprinkle some offbeat ideas to counteract his songwriting prowess, very much in the same ilk as Harry Nilsson. And while it’s completely fair to play it more straightforwardly for the sake of cohesion, there’s no need to raise the equalizer to 11 on a completely superfluous drum part, like he does on “I Love You,” to prove that he likes to keep it a little weird.
When s h i n e ends after a brief 29 minutes, you’re left wondering if the eight tracks here were leftovers meant for some of his biggest clients. After all, the percolating piano plinks on “Black Magic,” notwithstanding his hiccupy emphasis of the phrase “I’m hypnotized,” could’ve been translated to Bieber’s airy falsettos on Swag. While one has to admire his gumption for such a quizzical album launch, s h i n e sounds no more essential than if Jesso Jr. had given it another shot while he was collecting his hefty royalty checks.
s h i n e is out now via R&R.
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