Tonight, in the beautiful Olympia Theatre in Dublin, the talented and charismatic George Ezra will play the third show of his Top Secret Tour. Ezra‘s debut LP, Wanted on Voyage, was released in 2014 and was instantly well received by both critics and the public. What followed was an intensive touring schedule which involved a night in Vicar Street in Dublin in October 2014, a show that this particular writer was lucky enough to be able to attend, and it was clear from that night that this boy had something. Effortlessly charismatic and supremely talented, there was still a sense that this was someone who would stay true to himself and anyone who is wise enough to follow George on his various social media accounts knows this to be true. It seemed that Wanted on Voyage was going to be the start of something wonderful for George Ezra, and then he disappeared…

2015 and 2016 passed without any new music from Ezra, a fact bemoaned by many fans who often find themselves wondering why artists who make a living creating art can often take so long to release new material. But it’s very easy for us casual fans to criticise silence from an artist when we have no idea of the difficulties involved in the creative process. In a letter sent out via his email mailing list a few months ago, Ezra spoke about the anxiety that he felt as he tried to write a second album, he says that knowing the sense of anticipation that would surround anything that was to follow after Wanted on Voyage he struggled to create music that he felt was of a standard worth releasing. This is obviously one of the sides to being a musician that fans do not think about, the problem with creating a well received debut album is that you have now set yourself a benchmark that must be at least equalled with everything that comes after, hence the term “the difficult second album”.

Thankfully, the Top Secret Tour that Ezra is currently on is a sign that the man has a second album waiting to be released to the world, and the early fan reviews from the shows are very positive. There’s nothing particularly complicated or nuanced about the music that George Ezra writes, but all of it is done with an ease and a warmth that is highly infectious.

MK