Music

Jack Savoretti says new album leans into ‘the afternoon of life

Twenty years after his debut, the singer says family, grief and moving to Oxfordshire shaped a record that reached No. 2 in the UK albums chart

Source language: English
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Jack Savoretti says new album leans into ‘the afternoon of life
Location
Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton, West Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Jack Savoretti says his ninth album was written for middle age, after two decades in music and a move to Oxfordshire that helped reshape his work.
Albums Jack Savoretti KT Tunstall Oxfordshire UK music

Jack Savoretti says his ninth album was written for middle age, after two decades in music and a move to Oxfordshire that helped reshape his work.

Jack Savoretti says his latest album was born from a subject he felt pop music often leaves aside: the unsettled middle years of adulthood.

The 42-year-old singer, who lives near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, has described We Will Always Be The Way We Were as a record for “the mothers and the fathers in the world” — music shaped by parenthood, loss and the pressures of middle age after two decades as a recording artist.

“There’s not much new music based on the afternoon of life,” Savoretti said, reflecting on the album’s theme. He compared the decision to address that stage of life to “leaning into a midlife crisis.”

The subject matter has found an audience. Released in April, the album peaked at No. 2 on the UK Official Albums Chart, following the commercial success of Singing to Strangers in 2019 and Europiana in 2021, both of which reached the top of the chart.

Savoretti said he had been prepared for a quieter response after releasing an Italian-language album, wondering whether listeners would still be interested. Instead, he said the reaction from his fan base moved him.

The album’s title, he said, reflects a belief that people may not fundamentally change, but can grow. In his own life, that has meant becoming a father of three, losing his father and navigating the anxieties he associates with being a middle-aged man.

His recent milestones have also included headline shows at the Royal Albert Hall in April and May. Savoretti said the first night was more emotional than he expected, especially with his wife and children watching from the audience.

He also credits his move from London to the Cotswolds with changing how he lives and works. Savoretti said the landscape near his Oxfordshire home reminds him of Carona, the Swiss village near Lake Lugano where he grew up, and that the family’s decision to stay outside London began as an instinctive trial more than a decade ago.

The singer is preparing for the largest tour of his career, beginning in Zagreb in September and ending in Birmingham in November, with dates including Athens, Milan, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris. Before then, he is due to appear at the State Fair in Chelmsford from 26 to 28 June, on a line-up that includes Alanis Morissette, Skunk Anansie, Sierra Ferrell and KT Tunstall.

Tunstall also appears on Savoretti’s new single, Tempting Fate , which is due out Friday. Savoretti said the collaboration made sense because both artists are marking 20 years in music, adding that the longevity he once hoped for now feels rewarding.

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