Maddox Jones discusses new single and Lemar gigs

Singer-songwriter Maddox Jones released his new single Change My Number this month and recently joined London soul singer Lemar on his tour across the UK.

The Northampton musician has been working on the follow-up to his debut solo album, which he hopes will be out later this year.

Joined by guitarist and producer Dave Crawford and singer and collaborator Great Adamz, the three opened for Lemar at gigs in Manchester and Birmingham.

Jones said: “The shows were really cool and a great experience.

“They came around as one of the acts had to pull out and luckily for us, my live agent called and we managed to get on the shows.

“On the first in Manchester, we went up to the BBC and did an interview on BBC Breakfast which was a great experience.”

Both part of Lemar’s Closer Tour, the first gig was at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music followed by the Town Hall in Birmingham.

Jones said: “It was great to play two venues like this, both were seated theatre shows which is a bit different to what I usually do.

“Watching Lemar, you can see just how talented he is, he’s a proper soul singer and his voice is phenomenal.

“I think only genuine artists like him last longer than their hits.

“I actually learned a lot from watching him. He’s someone who you can see genuinely cares about his audience and was looking into people’s eyes while performing – which is something I actually find quite hard to do.

“I get quite nervous by looking directly at people, but you realise how important it is.”

Jones’ new single, Change My Number, was released earlier this month and follows recent singles Not Cool Enough For LA, Chasing Moments and We All Need Somebody.

All followed his debut solo album Believe It which was released in 2022.

Talking about his latest track, he said: “I had a bit of a bad breakup a couple of years ago and it was all consuming. I was really depressed for a while and the song is about when you finally get to the stage where you're moving on and you're letting go.

“It’s a song about realising there is hope for the future.

“I think the song gives a bit of an idea where the second album is going.

“I wrote it with Dave Crawford at Plastic Tree Studios. I got behind the piano and started playing and it all came really naturally.

“I’ve got a lot of the demos done for the second album so work on this is going to start ramping up properly soon.”

Maddox Jones has also recently been working with Janet Devlin on songs for her forthcoming new album.

On Saturday, June 1, he will be returning to The Black Prince to headline the venue where he’ll be joined by a full band featuring Dave Crawford, Peter Marchant and Phil Clark.

He will be joined by Darby singer songwriter Trenton Green and Great Adamz.

Tickets cost £7 in advance before fees via https://www.skiddle.com/e/38079068.

For more information about Maddox Jones visit https://www.instagram.com/itsmaddoxjones