Fans disappointed by the delayed release of Tom Odell’s new album Jubilee Road need not be disappointed much longer. While the full album was not released as it was expected to last Friday, October 12, I have managed to listen to all but two of the songs. An impassioned storyteller and a crowd pleaser, Tom Odell couldn’t help but play almost all of his new songs live at concerts over the past year. The only two songs you’ll have to wait to get your hands on are “Go Tell Her Now” and “Don’t Belong in Hollywood”. So while you won't be able to find the songs on spotify or Apple Music yet, you can find a majority of the new songs being performed live via fan recordings on Youtube. And for those of you who aren’t one of Odell’s over five million monthly listeners on spotify, and are still trying to figure out why you know his name, it might be because his song “Long Way Down” is a part of The Fault in our Stars soundtrack.

Thomas Odell, the 27 year old Indie Pop singer-songwriter-musician from West Sussex, United Kingdom, broke into the music business in 2012 when he signed onto Columbia Records UK. He started writing songs at age 13, but did so in total secrecy for years. Why? Because it wasn’t cool for a 13 year old boy, of course. Thankfully he grew out of that phase, and ended up pursuing his love for storytelling, piano, and singing at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. His debut album with Columbia records Long Way Down released in 2013, and took the number one spot on the UK’s charts. He then followed in the footsteps of artists the likes of Adele, in winning the BRIT Critics’ Choice Award in 2013. And then in 2014, the Ivor Novello Songwriter of the Year in Britain. He was even drafted in 2016 to fill a big red chair and become a Coach of The Voice UK, but that never came to be.

His latest album Jubilee Road showcases 10 songs, written while he spent time living in an undisclosed East London townhouse. Odell grew up on Elton John, but has raw emotional power ballads have made people compare his style to the late Leonard Cohen. When speaking about the album, Tom said, “I wrote this album in a house on a quiet terraced street in East London. The lyrics are inspired by the lives of the friends I made whilst living there. I recorded most the songs in the living room of the house...I hope you enjoy listening to the album as much as I did making it.” A classically trained pianist, his songs showcase the piano just as much as his voice. A live recording of “Son of an Only Child” shows the crowd going wild as Odell breaks into the recurring motif from Für Elise. I loved that, but my favorite part of the album might have to be the soaring harmonies from his collaboration with Alice Merton on the rock-ballad love-song “Half As Good As You”

I appreciate the time Tom Odell took, living on a quiet street, gathering stories to tell. It doesn’t feel like he rushed the album, he waited until he captured the right collection of stories combined from his own experiences and those of people like the old man across the street, a widower. If you haven’t taken the time to get to know Tom Odell yet, it might be worth it to check out Jubilee Road...when it finally comes out.