Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her new music review with singles from Jamie Perrett Age of Reason and HotWax Wanna Be A Doll
Artist: Jamie Perrett
Track: Age of Reason
London based singer-songwriter Jamie Perrett releases his new single Age of Reason. This is rock 'n' roll with a scuzzy edge, the guitar never letting go of its wild abandon. At just two and half minutes it ends too quickly and immediately demands to be replayed.
Recorded at 123 Studios in Peckham and produced by Jamie, Age of Reason was pretty much recorded live thus retaining its aggression and glorious raw perfection. The track was originally conceived in 2021 and reflects Jamie’s disillusionment with the chaos around us sharing: "The song describes the division, paranoia and ignorance we often descend to in current times."
The instrumentation reflects this theme in all its glory, venting frustration and disheartenment in both the lyrics and the melody. Its all wrapped not in melancholy, but at a pace that gallops along creating a sense of energised disillusionment.
"They've escaped from the asylum of the criminally mundane."
Jamie recently sold out Paper Dress Vintage in Hackney, London on 22 November and plays at The Bowery Electric New York on 16 of December. Having recently produced Peter Perrett’s (Jamie's father, frontman of The Only Ones) critically acclaimed LP, The Cleansing and masterminding the appearance of guests Bobby Gillespie, Johnny Marr and Carlos O’Connell from Fontaines D.C., he will release his own EP on 7 March 2025.
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Artist: HotWax
Track: Wanna Be A Doll
HotWax - Tallulah Sim-Savage, Lola Sam and Alfie Sayers - will release their debut album, Hot Shock, on 7 March 2025 via Marathon Artists. The LP’s 10 tracks promise to explode with adrenaline-jolted anthems about abandoning fear and leaping boldly towards the future. It was recorded with co-producer Catherine Marks (Boygenius, Wolf Alice) alongside Steph Marziano (Picture Parlour, Cassandra Jenkins), and with Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa. HotWax have released new single Wanna Be a Doll, the latest to be taken from the new album.
Sim-Savage expands: “This is the first song we wrote for the album and we re-wrote it in so many different ways. And it ended up pretty similar to the first version, which seems to be how it goes. It’s a song where I am writing about myself from someone else’s point of view, being self aware of my bad, sometimes destructive, traits.”
Wanna Be A Doll is full of attitude, the lyrical content allowing for such forthright delivery on a personal theme. The guitars and drums are given their space to shine and the vocals are full of passion - "It's a perfect day, what's upset you now?"
There is a sense here of the cathartic nature the creation of music can bring. The process can allow for the expression of negative feelings and provide a sense of release and acceptance. No wonder Wanna Be A Doll is delivered with such emotion but within an energy that is the trademark of HotWax.
In March 2025 the band will head out on a run of in-store shows in the U.K. to celebrate the Hot Shock release. HotWax’s debut album is the follow up to two EPs released in 2023. In support of those the band has played over 150 blistering live shows in the past 18 months alone including packed headline shows in both New York City and Los Angeles, a North American tour supporting Royal Blood, and showcases during SXSW 2023. Across the pond they have appeared at numerous festivals including Reading and Leeds Festival, and Mad Cool, cementing their reputation as one of the most thrilling live acts on the rise.
HOTWAX TOUR DATES 2025
March
3 - Music’s Not Dead, De La Warr Pavilion
7 - Resident Brighton
8 - Rough Trade Nottingham (Midday)
8 - Rough Trade Liverpool (Evening)
9 - Rough Trade Bristol
10 - Vinyl Whistle Leeds
11 - Rough Trade East
12 - Vinilo Southampton
13 - Truck Oxford
May
31 - Temple Newsam Park, Leeds - Kaiser Chiefs All Dayer
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