RJ Thompson

From his upbringing in England’s north-eastern reaches, this multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer crafts an earnest strain of soul-infused, radio-aimed pop-rock that draws its glossy contours from the 1980s while retaining the plain-spoken sincerity of traditional English folk. Born Richard John Thompson—the identical name borne by the celebrated Fairport Convention guitarist—he adopted the professional alias RJ Thompson when he joined Midge Ure on a 2007 German itinerary. National exposure arrived in 2011 once tracks from The Cognitive Rules EP reached daytime playlists, and by 2014 he was sharing bills at prestige venues such as the Royal Albert Hall alongside Jools Holland. The full-length Echo Chamber followed in 2017, widening his audience still further, before Lifeline—physically issued the next year—entered the U.K. Album Chart at number five.

Bishop Auckland, the County Durham market town where RJ Thompson entered the world in 1985, supplied an early soundtrack of Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen recordings that steered him toward music. Drawn to nearby Newcastle’s club circuit, he issued the self-released Hidden Daylight on his own Chicken Wire imprint in 2003 under his given name. Three years later came Illogical Life, recorded with producer Fred Purser at Trinity Heights and later disowned by the artist as mere demo material. The 2007 Acoustic Sessions EP marked his first release under the RJ Thompson banner; subsequent years found him supporting the Proclaimers, Gabriella Cilmi and Sandi Thom across the U.K.

Although The Cognitive Rules EP of 2011 generated only modest attention, the 2014 House Upon the Hill EP—whose songs had begun taking shape in demo form during May 2012—marked a decisive breakthrough. In the months surrounding its launch, and alongside high-profile engagements with Holland, Thompson toured with Deacon Blue and Ultravox. The set captured an artistic pivot: while “No Man’s Land” and “Born Alone” echoed the contemporary English folk of Seth Lakeman, the title track previewed the unabashed 1980s pop aesthetic that would later define his commercial profile. A 2015 European trek with Joan Armatrading preceded the concert recording Live in 2016. Echo Chamber, released in 2017 and propelled by synthesizers and falsetto, evoked the Phil Collins-era Genesis sound in places and was regarded by Thompson himself as his first proper studio album. Yet it was Lifeline, arriving late in 2020, that fully realised the polished production values that placed him in the mainstream; its singles “Kids” and “So Right” in particular recalled the mid-1980s work of Stevie Winwood and Feargal Sharkey.