Can't Stop the Music

You might call this a case of "Desperate times call for desperate measures" — relatively speaking, of course.

Monday, Jamie Cullum's new album, The Pursuit, will be released in the U.K. and all over Europe. I'm a very big Jamie Cullum fan, have been for years, and for a while now, I'd been banking on the fact that the album — Jamie's first in more than four years — would be released in the U.S. a day later, on Tuesday. That's how it usually works, after all (though one wonders why albums don't just drop on the same weekday around the world). Well, last week I got an email telling me that in fact, the U.S. release would not happen until March 2.

Suffice it to say, I just couldn't wait that long. I mean, that's crazy, right? Releasing the album in Europe, and then waiting four months to do it here? Especially after a four-year gap between albums. Jamie may not be a household name in the U.S., but he's hardly an unknown, brand-new artist (Pursuit is actually his fifth album, though not all have been released in the U.S.). People like me are going to notice if he has an album out elsewhere in the world, and they're going to want to get their hands on it now.

So as any enterprising person would do, I went on a pursuit of my own, and set off to find the album somewhere on the Interwebs. Before you could say "I'm All Over It Now," I found a site (actually, a couple of them) where I could download all 12 tracks, for free, before the album had even been released overseas. It was almost too easy. Isn't the Interwebs great?

Now, before you get all huffy and accusatory on me, and tell me I'm "stealing music," you should know this much: I have every intention of buying the album when it's officially released over here next year. In fact, I'll probably even go for the deluxe edition (assuming I have the same option as the European fans), which includes bonus tracks and a DVD. I support artists I like, and I want this album to do well.

Speaking of which, let me say this: The Pursuit is great (of course it is). More mature, confident, and experimental than Jamie's previous albums, Pursuit features some impressive tracks, such as his take on Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things," Stephen Sondheim's "Not While I'm Around" (from Sweeney Todd), and Rhianna's "Don't Stop the Music." The originals "Love Ain't Gonna Let You Down" and "Mixtape" are cool. "Music Is Through" will be a hot number when Jamie plays live, as will the raucous swing tune "You and Me Are Gone." The dramatic "If I Ruled the World" erases any memory of Tony Bennett's more-famous version. In short, Jamie's come a long way from his U.S. debut, Twentysomething (a long way from his follow-up, Catching Tales, too), and he's pretty much blasted out of the "jazz singer" box that some have painted him into (just in case the album cover wasn't symbolic enough for you). The Pursuit is well worth the wait.

But let's not miss the larger point here: In the age of the Interwebs, you can't keep devoted music fans waiting. If an album is out in one part of the world — and it's going to be hyped in other parts of the world with emails, on Facebook, Twitter, and a podcast — then it should be out everywhere. Otherwise, you can't blame a guy for finding it on his own, especially when it's this easy.