Music by Jeremy is the recording name of Jeremy, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist working out of his home studio in Banbury. He plays every guitar and the fretless bass himself, and plenty of the songs start life on his old Faith acoustic before he builds them out in Ableton.
Side Three is the third of four instalments from his debut, A Well Worn Path, a 24-track double album he has been rolling out in pieces since August. Side Two followed in September, and the complete record is due in November. We covered Side One and Side Two when they arrived, and the backstory still holds: these songs were written for a collaboration that fell through, so Jeremy decided to bring them to life on his own.
Scenes from a Well Worn Path – Side Three
Side Three lands on October 25 with six tracks, and just a glance at the titles tells you money, value, and what we actually need are on Jeremy’s mind this time around. “No Price on Earth” gets things moving on a bright acoustic strum, with an easygoing folk-pop bounce and warm backing vocals that give it a soulful glow. “I Don’t Know” slows right down, laying gentle guitar and strings under a hushed vocal, and the clever twist is that it frames a love song as a proof that never quite works out, which manages to be funny and quietly moving at once.
The best title of the bunch belongs to “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren,” borrowed from John Maynard Keynes’s 1930 essay, the one that famously predicted we would all be working fifteen-hour weeks by now. The song opens on a line from Macbeth before asking where all our modern plenty came from and who ended up holding onto it. It is the grooviest thing here, built on punchy drums and gritty guitar, and there is an uneasy edge under the swagger that keeps it honest.
“How Much is Enough” strips everything back to drifting acoustic guitar and a near-whisper of a vocal, and it is one of the most affecting moments on the side. “Market Square” lifts the mood again with a charming folk-pop melody and lyrics that sketch a scene so clearly you can almost hear the stallholders. “The Letter” closes things out, starting from a simple strum and swooping, moody vocals before growing into a darker, rock-leaning finish that keeps changing direction right up to the last bar.
As with the earlier sides, Jeremy has been open about how the fuller arrangements came together. He trained vocal models on his own voice and steered them with his own performances to cover the parts he had no band to play, while the songwriting, the guitar and bass, and the overall direction stayed firmly in his hands.
Final Thoughts
Side Three is the most focused chapter of A Well Worn Path so far, and it leaves us keen to hear how the whole thing fits together in November. One side left to go. Make sure you add this latest collection to your daily playlists and rotations.
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