George Ezra: 'I've got ideas for my next album'

Photo: Danny /WENN

George Ezra Tickets

"Embarrassingly, when my manager said that we were in the Sound of 2014, I had no idea what the list was," laughs George Ezra backstage at Glastonbury, thinking back over the dizzying ascent he's experienced from an unknown on the BBC Introducing Stage to an artist with fulfilled hype, and a No.3 album under his belt.

"I had to look into it then I realised that it was amazing," he chuckles in disbelief. "I think it's actually beneficial in the long-run. It frustrated me at first, but when someone tells me something, it takes a while to compute it. When someone says 'oh, you're No.3 in the charts', I was just like 'ah, cool'.

"I still don't understand what it means, but six months down the line I'll be like 'fuuuuck, I was No.3 in the charts!' I never felt any pressure, but I did like how it put my name, my face or my music into people's heads. That's perfect."

As one of the true breakthrough acts of British music in the last 12 months, another one taking six-stringed soul back to the top of the mainstream, 'perfect' is indeed the only way the rise and rise of Ezra and gravelly blues-tinged pop. But while he's among good company when it comes to credibly male British voices bothering the upper echelons of the chart, it would be foolish to asssume that Ezra, Jake Bugg, Sam Smith and John Newman all count themselves among any kind of 'movement'. 

"I think that people, especially in Europe, say to me 'ah, there's this influx of male singer-songwriters coming out of Britain' and I'm like 'no, because if you look at any decade since the 60s, they've been there'," he shrugs. "People will always appreciate one guy and a song, and they'll always be coming through."

And that's not the only misconception that the 21-year-old Hertford lad has to contend with...

"I don't often read stuff about myself, but I know that they need to use words that over-egg it bit so it's not just blasé. The one that I hear a lot is 'sounds older than he looks', but to me, I just sound like myself so I don't really know what to say about that."

At least now, there's a big piece of Ezra out there in the world, in the form of his acclaimed debut album Wanted On Voyage. The people  have a full body of work to judge him by, rather than just blurbs, hype and soundbites.

"That's what it is," nods George, "well, it's not a matter of getting it off my chest - I was just a bit bored of only me knowing what it sounds like. Not bored, I still love the album and it's clever to hold off and make sure you release it at the right time, but I want people to hear it now - there are a few surprises on there. 

"There's one song in particular that's a bit heavier, but I think when they go back to the heavier songs that they know, it will make sense. The whole point was to put different flavours on the album so that the second or third album won't be as much of a shock if I go down any of those routes.

He adds: "This album has a lot of different tones, and I like that. It means you're not stapled to one sound."

So it sounds as if Ezra already has his next album and future beyond already mapped out?

"I've got a little idea of how I want it to sound, I think, but that will change tomorrow morning," he muses. "The interesting thing is, that before I went into the studio it looked like I'd be recording an album of songs that I'd written over six years. I took this journey where I went inter-railing by myself, and a bit more of the album came through that.

"They feel like they've all come from one place and now I know how it feels to write a bulk of songs, which is good practice."

His journey has been a pretty grand one so far, and with talent, vision and time on his side, he's certainly  got the legs to go much, much further. 

Wanted On Voyage is out now. As well as appearing at Boardmasters and V Festival, George Ezra's October 2014 UK tour dates are below. For more information, visit Gigwise Tickets. 

October 2014 UK tour:
16 Leeds, Metropolitan University
17 Newcastle, University
18 Glasgow, Queen Margaret Union
20 Manchester, Ritz
21 Bristol, O2 Academy
22 Portsmouth, Pyramids Centre
24 London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
25 Birmingham, Institute
26 Cardiff, University Solus

Below: 11 brilliant photos of George Ezra at Postepay Rock in Roma