Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is a reason why many songs that deal with relationships used to sell so well and be high in the popular charts. If you look back throughout the history of the single you can see the proliferation and abundance of songs that had sorrow, undying declarations of love, of regret and touching moments when grieving is summoned from the depths of the soul that is wracked with torment and hope in equal measure.

There is a beauty beyond reason that stands out in a song that will break your heart, a sly introduction of lament of a brass instrument that comes out of nowhere, the softness of a voice unleashing pain, revealing the pang of consciousness, the whisper of yearn that weaves its way through the core of the track and the sentiment of unhappiness that comes with the knowledge that it is highly unlikely to go your way, that the desired scenario will never materialise…and that the reason and the beauty merge with such a satisfying result that it cannot be blamed for infecting your own peace and memory.

To John Jenkins the belief of the latest single to be released this year, Do You Ever Think About Me? is one of epic cool, the unburdening of the narrated voice as they recount through the mouth of another just exactly how the need to be in someone’s mind with the same sense of love and care that they themselves think of the person is an ache the listener can fully appreciate; and in opening up that thought leave themselves open to perhaps scorn, derision, a flat out refusal of compassion, and an answer that leaves them even more bereft of happiness than they ever considered.

John Jenkins, along with Jon Lawson, Chris Howard, and Tony Peers, have created a song of such absolute calm and chaos in one outstanding movement, the calm of the listener understanding that they too could have once implored such graceful feelings of need and the chaos of truth that comes with rejection and abandonment is so palpable that it is impossible to not feels the tears well up and the heart feel the pain in their own body.

A wonderful song that captures the very best qualities of the trope and the humanity that is presented in full. 

Ian D. Hall