JJ Draper

After working with Ed Tullett (Novo Amor, Hailaker) on his Silhouettes EP, JJ went back into the rehearsal room to arrange a new body of work - taking a considerable catalogue of songs to his band and into the studio and working with singular vision to create the sound he wanted.

JJ takes an unflinching approach to songwriting - moments of tenderness in sharp juxtaposition with the chronicling of horrible events, such as the murder of a 17 yr old boy that occurred on his doorstep in March 2019 (…if you’re awake in the night). Interested in honestly reflecting his perspective in any scenario, he talks of surreal experiences or confused detachment with the same poetry as moments of sober reality.

Now, after a 2020 filled with critically acclaimed releases and (pre-COVID) some amazing live shows, he has completed his debut album Present Tense. Often compared to the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver and Big Thief, JJ’s new material – recorded at RYP Studios in London – is a bold and ambitious statement of intent. Weaving his assured songwriting through genre-bending arrangements, it seems sure to confirm him as one of the UK’s most exciting talents. Complete with incredible string arrangements by Samuel Rowe, Present Tense is an epic listen that sweeps between light and dark, moody and irreverent, all the while pivoting around JJ’s versatile and intimate delivery.