EP Review: Jai Waetford – ‘Get To Know You’
2 min read
Yet another X Factor Australia alumnus is set to hit the charts, with 15 year old Jai Waetford releasing his second EP after being signed to Sony Music Australia at the end of last year’s competition. This teenager has fans worldwide, thanks to a little instagram post from megastar Justin Bieber which was seen by around 10 million fans. Jai has the looks, the voice and the fans to make it in the teen popstar scene; but are his songs original gems or dull and generic pieces?
The Get To Know You EP is filled with four songs with a predictable theme – love and relationships. This could easily have been guessed; what better way to build a fanbase than by letting teenage girls feel like Jai is singing “I want to get to know ya” directly to them? This is something often seen on One Direction’s albums, and is obviously a marketing/musical strategy that works.
The title track is a surprisingly synth-heavy pop track which will undoubtly race up the charts. Whilst there is nothing particularly special about this song, it’s extremely catchy and will have even the most reluctant person singing along. That Girl contains some ridiculous lyrics, especially in the first verse. I honestly hope I never hear the terms ‘supercalifragilipstick‘ or ‘swagalicious’ again. But those words aside, That Girl shows some great vocal control from the fifteen year old, particularly in the bridge where he has some impressive vocal runs.
You’re The Lead is a more mid-tempo pop track, with a forgetful melody that washes out Jai’s vocals a little. Without that catchy melody there to save it, the song seems slightly dull despite the great vocal effort. Sweetest Thing starts off with a more laid back vibe and is less full on than some of the other songs. But the instrumentals on the chorus totally overpower his vocals; this is most likely the result of bad production, but it’s more than a little offputting. It sits at a nice tempo that you can bop along too, but once again I feel that the melody is a bit ‘wish-washy’ and forgetful.
We were shown on the X Factor Australia that Jai Waetford was capable of many genres and an emotional depth and connection beyond his years. It’s a shame that these songs don’t show off that mature side, and instead went for the predictable teenage love songs. The Get To Know You EP is obviously a way to establish Jai’s sound in the pop genre, but I feel they overdid it a little, and would have loved to have seen a ballad on here. Nevertheless, Jai provides fantastic vocals throughout the whole EP and is certain to have a bright future.
