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Gutsy, confessional pop-soul. Get to know the Bedford star

Bedford-raised singer-songwriter Tom Grennan may be young—he did, after all, sign a record deal while still studying for an acting degree in London—but his music channels the honesty, maturity and weather-beaten heft of a veteran bluesman. Chase & Status feature “All Goes Wrong” helped mint this acute old-soul energy: a festival-sized dance behemoth, darkened by introspective lyrical storm clouds and that cracked, defiant howl. Similarly, debut album Lighting Matches engaged producers Eg White and Fraser T Smith for songs that, even as they thematically wrestle with destructive hedonism and skyward pleas for salvation, come cloaked in ebullient indie (“Found What I’ve Been Looking For”) or unapologetically riotous honky tonk (“Barbed Wire”). “Oh Please” (from Grennan’s heartbreak-themed second record) is an even bolder step-up; a soaring, string-laden 1970s soul epic, dripping scorned-lover attitude, and enormous enough to stand shoulder to wide-lapelled-shoulder with the classics.

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