Jamie T Talks Himself Through the Doubt on ‘Tallahassee’
Jamie T turns pre-show nerves, imposter syndrome and a deeply personal Leif Vollebekk sample into the closing track of his forthcoming sixth album.
A pep talk is meant to make you feel better. Jamie T’s “Tallahassee” feels more like the point where you look yourself in the mirror, try to say something encouraging and somehow end up making things worse.
Written in the early hours of 30 June 2023, ahead of one of the biggest shows of his career at Finsbury Park, the track catches Jamie on the edge of a moment that should probably make you feel completely untouchable. A whole field of people are about to turn up for you. You have years of records behind you. Surely that is enough proof that you belong there.
Apparently, your own brain does not care.
Jamie even throws out, “I’m just a plagiarist,” while Lily Allen, The Streets, Paul Heaton and The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett all crop up through the lyrics. It feels very him: a bit funny, a bit uncomfortable and never too interested in pretending he has everything worked out.
The song takes its name and a sample from Canadian songwriter Leif Vollebekk’s “Tallahassee”, a track Jamie says has stayed with him through some difficult points in his life.
“His version has been a constant through some hard personal times in my life, so it felt fitting.”
Jamie has described writing his own “Tallahassee” as an attempt to give himself a pep talk before Finsbury Park, which is almost painfully relatable. You can have all the proof sitting in front of you and still somehow convince yourself you are winging it.
It makes sense that “Tallahassee” is the song Jamie leaves us with on his forthcoming sixth album, Ghosts (100 Days of Morning). It closes the 11-track record, which arrives on 9 October through Polydor Records.
The album deals with growing older, love, loss and the parts of yourself you might have pushed away for a while. Jamie puts it much better himself:
“Everyone has a part of themselves they keep at arm's length, even from the people they love. ‘Ghosts’ to me is about seeing that version of yourself for the first time in a long time and trying to hold on to it. This album is me trying to find that again.”
“Tallahassee” also comes with a Rob Thorogood-directed video carrying on from the visuals for “3310”. The Ferrari Testarossa makes another appearance, this time winding through country roads at sunrise while Jamie performs alongside it. There is also an ice cream van involved, because apparently even an existential crisis needs a bit of British seaside energy.
The single follows “3310” as the second track shared from Ghosts (100 Days of Morning). Jamie will also mark the album’s release with a run of smaller solo acoustic shows across the UK in October.
For all the big shows, old records and years behind him, “Tallahassee” is basically proof that you can still feel like a fraud at the exact moment everyone else thinks you have made it. Very reassuring, really.
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