Saint Raymond

Saint Raymond

Two gigs in one day for this Bramcote raising star to celebrate his debut album, of which we hear most of.

Date: July 4

Venue: Bodega

Bramcote’s Saint Raymond – Callum Burrows to his bank manager – looks set to cement himself amongst the Nottingham-based artists achieving mainstream success, with his debut album, Young Blood, released on Sunday July 5, tipped for a Top 40 place (at least) when the chart is announced on Friday.

To launch it, he plays two hometown shows at The Bodega, a venue he’s well outgrown, having already sold out Rock City earlier this year.

It was only supposed to be the one show, but demand for the Saturday night prompted an additional matinee.

At the former he walks on to a rapturous reception, obviously. Come Back To You and Everything She Wants begin proceedings; the latter a floor shaking, crowd-shifting goliath of a song. The chest-beating I Want You is early in the set, and prompts the same fan reaction: essentially, bouncing in unison.

His songs emit a glimmer of Afro-beat amidst their jangle-pop core. It’s subtle, but it exists. And it works superbly.

It doesn’t all go to plan, however. The backing track to Great Escape lets him down so it’s ditched in favour of Wild Heart, in which we see Callum climb the speaker stack, sit there and allow the crowd to sing back his song to him.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather launch my album”, he announces defiantly, sipping a mojito from the Bodega bar, before reaffirming his adroit song writing skills when Be There starts like Vampire Weekend before careering into a cymbal-smashing, fretboard damaging college rock classic.

Fall At Your Feet, a Paul Simon indebted melody-flecked opus, turns into a frazzled, elongated triumphant punch in the air. People ride on other people’s shoulders like it’s a festival, a first for the Bodega surely, but it is undeniably anthemic, worthy of Worthy Farm, Pilton, his location a week ago.

“He’s one of our own, he’s one of our own, Callum Saint Raymond, he’s one of our own”, spout the crowd in a footy-like chant, before Callum returns attempting to quieten the crowd, playing two songs; Movie In My Mind and As We Are Now – unplugged, quite literally. The songs are devoid of a mic but rich with emotion.

His band return fully electrified with album opener Letting Go, another addition to the endless list of anthemic songs he has at his disposal, while Bonfires sounds like The Kooks if people still cared about them, and set closer Young Blood sees a sea of hands grab Callum as he surfs the crowd without so much as blurring a lyric.

He may be one of our own for now, but we may have to let him go soon, because mainstream recognition surely awaits.

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