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A homegrown musician hoping to follow in the footsteps of dance anthem engineer Calvin Harris has racked up nearly 50,000 listens on his new single.
Jordan Burrows (21), a former Hautlieu student and budding popstar, released dance tune ‘If Only’ last month.
The young singer-songwriter started penning tunes at just 14 years old, but it was an online vote that would get the gears in motion for a serious musical career in 2014.
Aged just 19, he beat thousands of acts across the UK to scoop the Britain’s Best Unsigned Male award.
Pictured: A young Jordan, back in his days of folky, acoustic tunes.
Since then, Jordan has played across music venues and clubs in London, at Jersey Live and even gone on a UK-wide tour organised by La Motte Street Youth Centre - supported throughout by the Jersey Arts Trust and the One Foundation.
That award success also saw him contacted by a producer for several UK top 40 artists - the catalyst for a 180-degree style turn in his formerly acoustic-laden style.
Jordan had previously cited Muse, Ed Sheeran and Ben Howard as key influencers, but his experiences with new producers saw him take a turn into the world of dance and electronic (EDM).
Video: Jordan directed and edited his music video himself.
He told Express: “My style has changed hugely! I’ve gone from soft acoustic singer/songwriter, to a Pop/EDM/RnB producer, singer and writer. To me, it’s felt like a natural, gradual process after learning to write pop songs for other artists, but I suppose to people who aren’t in my immediate friendship group, and therefore haven’t heard any of my music since 2014, it’s [the new single] going to be a bit of a shock!”
The three-and-a-half minute tune is the fruit of a collaboration with producer Glance, who emailed Jordan after his ears were pricked during Jordan’s set at the Gorey Fete five years ago. Vocal mixer to the stars Arthur Indrikovs was also involved, placing Jordan just one link away from the music industry’s biggest hitters. Counted amongst Indrikovs’ professional credits are One Direction, Calvin Harris, Clean Bandit and Florence and the Machine.
But it’s not just his new pop pals who proved - quite literally - instrumental in the making. Jordan’s lyrics were drawn from real life.
Pictured: A selection of the top influencers on Jordan's new track.
“Musically, the inspiration came from modern pop music which is dominating the charts at the moment, whereas lyrically, it came from a personal experience I guess - about someone I care a lot about who doesn’t feel the same way! So I suppose it’s a typical song about wanting to give someone your everything, but just not being on the same page about things,” he explained.
The single, which was released on Spotify and Apple Music, has been out for little more than two weeks, but already it’s proving popular both at home and away. His monochromatic music video has been viewed over 20,000 times on YouTube, and over 28,000 on Facebook.
With a catchy, almost Bieber-esque beat, it’s got all the makings of a chart-topping floorfiller, but Jordan’s ambitions remain modest. When asked what reception he hopes for, he simply responds: “I hope people love it! I also hope it gets people keen for hearing the rest of the EP, which doesn’t have a release date yet, but I can assure you, there’s a whole selection of songs on there. So even if you don’t like ‘If Only’, I’m sure there will be something you’ll like! But ultimately I write the type of music I like to hear, and as a way to sort of ‘vent’ my feelings, so even if people don’t like it, I’ll be happy knowing that I like it!”
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