George Ezra is best known to me by his major hit “Budapest”, which had a long reign on the charts since 2014 (and lasted throughout 2015), but his name caught my eye after videos of the Glastonbury festival started to hit YouTube, recently.
Needless to say, he’s back. After taking some time out to find himself, write and record his new album, he tried to quietly return by initially focusing on his main fanbase to continue performing, but literally in a matter of days, he was performing at Glastonbury and was back in full swing.
He's also released a new single called “Don't Matter Now” for which he’s also just dropped an acoustic version.
If you would've told me up front that the song was really upbeat, I would've had a hard time trying to figure out in my mind how that would sound with his voice. With "Budapest" in mind, I think of him as a bit of a moody type of singer. That deep low voice of his reminds me of people my dad used to listen to, way back when. It's what made him stand out of the rest of singer-songwriters currently out there.
Especially when you know that he was just in his early 20s when "Budapest" was released, you know he had something unique. Just hearing the voice would make you think of a seasoned older person and anything else would automatically stand out.
His voice seems so fitting for ballads, and perhaps some blues, but "Don't Matter Now" is care free, upbeat folk-pop song and, to be honest, it's really cool. The combination works fine.
George has admitted that his sudden fame enhanced his anxiety and he had to take time out to get some peace back. He took 18 months off and even checked out of social media (which so seems to be the thing to do, lately). This song, in that regard, reminds me of Ed Sheeran's "Castle On The Hill", which to me also describes the feeling of rekindling a connection with the simple life, far removed from life on the road. However, this song maintains the sense of freedom, which you would expect to feel when you have a life out on the road.
I like both versions, the original and the acoustic (perfect for a beach fire evening and everthing else don't matter then).
