Kings & Queens

Personnel: Jamie T. (programming); James Dring (guitar, drums, drum programming); Drew McConnell (guitar).
Audio Mixers: Jimmy Robertson; Jason Cox; Tom Stanley; Cenzo Townshend.
Photographer: Tom Beard.
After just one album, it may have been difficult to peg Jamie T as either a Streets imitator or an original on his own. His debut PANIC PREVENTION included flashes of brilliance, but the yowling delivery and willfully obtuse lyrics could've easily been a pose. Album number two, 2009's KINGS & QUEENS, comes with some high expectations -- PANIC PREVENTION was Mercury-nominated, after all -- and it mostly confirms that Jamie Treays has a music career in front of him if he wants it. Fortunately, he hasn't matured out of his core strengths: his vitality, his expressiveness, and his knack for twisting the vagaries of everyday life for urban youth into material for songs.