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George Ezra
‘Big-hearted joy’: George Ezra. Photograph: Alex Eden-Smith
‘Big-hearted joy’: George Ezra. Photograph: Alex Eden-Smith

George Ezra: Gold Rush Kid review – introspective, sunshine-ready pop

This article is more than 1 year old

(Columbia)
The Hertfordshire charmer returns with his customary peppy singles, along with some more thoughtful fare

As buoyant as bouncy castles and as shiny as their creator’s ruddy cheeks, George Ezra singles have become unofficial summer anthems since the big-voiced 29-year-old first emerged with 2013’s Budapest. And though there’s nothing on this third album to quite beat 2018’s chart-topping Shotgun in terms of big-hearted joy, the opening salvo of Anyone for You and Green Green Grass come close. While the former skips around a jubilant piano riff and an arms-aloft chorus, the latter ups the tempo with a lithe, club-ready bassline.

It’s all pretty much business as usual for the first 20 minutes – even the title track’s dissection of mental health struggles is transformed into a widescreen future festival favourite. As the album shifts into its second half, however, that beatific smile starts to wilt. The soft-focus I Went Hunting beautifully unpicks Ezra’s habit of self-sabotaging. On the grandstanding piano ballad Sweetest Human Being Alive, he imagines a perfect relationship that feels tantalisingly out of reach (“I can’t wait to meet you, babe,” he sighs softly).

More introspective and contemplative than his previous two multi-platinum albums, Gold Rush Kid finds Ezra becoming a man for all seasons.

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