"Breathe Life" is yet another example of why 2016 is going to be the year of the Jack Garratt (2015 kind of, sort of belongs to him as well). The guy has been steadily putting out quality music since day one, but he's also starting to make the transition into full-fledged stardom as each new song adds to his ever-growing base of fans. His sound has now taken a left turn into sonic alcoves where few have gone before, but when you couple that with his masterful execution, you're left with an artist that has massive growth potential and a blindingly bright future ahead. The track in question here builds on Synesthesiac's complex sound acrobatics, but there's a thread of pop sensibility that runs the length of "Breathe Life", making it easy to enjoy and accessible to anybody. Eventually, the track starts to decompose a bit towards the end, but the resulting flurry of instrumentation just energizes the single even more, and it will have you itching for a replay as soon as it's done. Phase, Jack's debut album, will be available to pre-order everywhere Friday, October 16.
Jack Garratt