There is a certain freshness about the sound of New York-based singer-songwriter Jake Winstrom’s third album, RAZZMATAZZ!, his follow-up to 2020’s Circles. The former frontman of Tennessee band Tenderhooks has opted for a more spacious sound for this set, with the stripped-back structures allowing ten tightly written songs to shine.
This is nicely illustrated on the fingerstyle guitar fronted This Blue Note. A relatively new skill for this musician, Jake’s acoustic picking is neatly restrained here, with the notes sparse enough to frame a lovely little rueful number that is further enhanced by subtle keys and a minor-key second guitar part.
Don’t Make the Rules is more stadium pop, with strummed electric guitar introducing a fun band sound. But again, unlike the often busy Circles, restraint is the keyword here, with keyboards dancing in the background and a slick bass line heard throughout. It’s a clean sound and clearly a deliberate move by Jake and producer Jason Binnick to allow the song to be the hero.
Jake’s newfound enjoyment of fingerstyle guitar and open tunings is present again on Can I Get a Ride?, a very pretty piece of minimalist pop, with swirls of pedal steel (I think) framing a hazy slice of summer soul searching (‘loitering outside a lumber yard / a little desperation never hurt’).
More muscle can be found on songs like the swaggering Jaws of Life, a euphoric slice of southern rock that enjoys a fuller sound, but finds room for neat little electric guitar shrugs and flourishes that lift it above the norm. The same can be said for One More for the Moon, a Springsteen-esque rock arrangement with a super-fun bass part, plus harmonicas and synths cutting through the mix.
Jake is a musician who takes his craft seriously and wasn’t prepared to go through the motions on this one. With a newfound fondness for folk and Americana-style picked acoustic guitar bringing a new flavour to his sound, plus the steady direction of Jason Binnick, RAZZMATAZZ! is a confident-sounding set of songs that allows space and subtlety into the assured arrangements. This album sounds like it was a blast to make, and it’s a pleasure to listen to.
RAZZMATAZZ! (August 8th, 2025) Meaux Money Meaux Music