A surprisingly hotter brother of Lightening Bolt opens up Jake Bugg’s second album, churned out in a short time since his Mercury Music Prize nominated debut was only released thirteen months ago. The acoustic-guitar-driven There’s a Beast and We All Feed It offers up both musical maturity and hanging onto the tried and tested, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

There’s no breather, as the aggressive and fast single Slumville Sunrise bursts through, nicely followed by the first single from the second album What Doesn’t Kill You – a nostalgic nod to the Arctic Monkeys of the noughties, this track is slightly dated in my opinion, but it has a strong indie heart.

Shangri La has been given the gold producer polish from Rick Rubin- you know, that god-like genius who has worked with the likes of Adele, Lana Del Rey and Mick Jagger, to name a few. Bugg’s Me and You is yet another thematically familiar track that takes the light strumming and high notes from the debut album track Note to Self to create its soft and delicate soul. 

American west coast rock reeks out of Messed Up Kids which is Eagles and Bugg perfectly combined. Same goes for All Your Reasons, Rubin’s American heritage is speckled all over this one, its only downfall is a heavily diluted accented singing voice from Bugg that takes away the much-loved Nottingham twang.

Kingpin sees Bugg tries his hand at the blues, as its steady beat and repetitive hook give fans a taste of what it would be like if Bugg listened to more Dr Feelgood than Neil Young in his bedroom as kid. Heavy production allow for a strong contender for a single release.

Kitchen Table and especially, Pine Trees go back to where it all started, a soft guitar playing Bob Dylan melodies that remind us of how our love affair with Bugg began. The latter is Bugg-gold and the ultimate tune on this entire release, for me.

Combining his winning formula of sing-a-long blues layered over a simple guitar hook, Storm Passes Away proves that despite the inevitable stumbling block of second album pressure, Shangri La is strong, emotional and a safe slice of a 19-year-old in a time capsule of Young, Turner and Dylan.