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For many bands, these days, being included on a noteworthy playlist on Spotify or Apple Music is more important than landing a respectable chart position. As consumers, the playlist, and the ability to hit shuffle, has become commonplace. Yet there are some traditionalists who want to maintain the notion of recognising an artist’s work through the album format. Amongst them is Jamie Lenman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, as a musician, the concept of an album of 12 songs tied together, a well-written album, is a bit sacred, even though we’re in a period of history where digital music is pulling us away from the album,\u201d<\/em> he tells Already Heard during our time at 2000trees<\/strong><\/a>. He continues, \u201cFor me, I still think of in terms of that format. I don’t have things on shuffle. It can be fun at a party. If you put together a playlist, sure put it on shuffle.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Admittedly for Lenman<\/strong>, the notion of being against shuffling is ironic. His return to Upcote Farm comes days after releasing an intriguing covers album titled ‘Shuffle’<\/em>. \u201cI don’t really approve of the shuffle,\u201d<\/em> he explains. \u201cI had an iPod, when they first came out, I had one of those big white ones. We had it on shuffle for the novelty and then I realised I was losing the concept of an album.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n ‘Shuffle’<\/em> is far from the routine covers album with Lenman’s take on songs from the Beatles, Cyndi Lauper, and Annie Lennox, being placed alongside reinterpretations of TV (‘Popeye’<\/em>), film (‘Taxi Driver’<\/em>) and video game (‘Wolverine: Adamantium Rage’<\/em>) themes. While ‘Song of Seikilos’<\/em> hails from ancient Greece and is considered the oldest complete musical composition in existence. Overall, the record is a representation of Lenman’s interests, \u201c’Shuffle’ was a way to explain why all these things are coming from so many different places. If I did shuffle my record collection, this is what it would sound like.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Despite its title, there is a structure to ‘Shuffle’<\/em> and its sequencing works fittingly, keep listeners attention throughout. \u201cWe knew we were going to open with ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and to end with ‘The Remembrance,’ because where [else] could those tracks go other than the start and the end,\u201d<\/em> explains Jamie before commenting on the album’s order. \u201cWith everything else, we had to work it out. Which isn’t to say we didn’t think about it very carefully. I think a lot of people assume the sequencing is random, it’s anything but. I wanted it to still have a flow and a shape.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n