Jamie Woon breaks the silence with new album 3, 10, Why, When. A midnight confession in r&b and echoes.
Jamie Woon has always carried an understated charisma, both in person and in his music. He’s warm, magnetic, and endlessly engaging, yet behind that easygoing demeanor lies an artist who operates on an all-or-nothing wavelength. That duality explains his critical acclaim as much as his tendency to vanish for years on end.
After the Mercury Prize–buzzing Mirrorwriting (2011) and the textured follow-up Making Time (2015), Woon retreated from the spotlight. While fans waited, he kept busy behind the scenes, collaborating with talents like Elmiene and Lil Silva, and co-producing Holly Walker’s introspective debut Unsung. His own third act, however, took longer to arrive.
That arrival is 3, 10, Why, When, an album born almost accidentally. Woon began working with producer Martin Terefe, an unlikely pairing outside the usual music circuit, and what started as one-off sessions gradually grew into a full record. “He sort of tricked me into making an album,” Woon admits with a smile. Ten tracks later, the shape of his most vulnerable work yet had emerged.
For years, Woon had been sketching melodies without words, chasing sound rather than sense. But when the lyrics finally came, they poured out all at once, carrying the weight of feelings he’d once resisted. That breakthrough is audible in every note: the record is startling in its honesty, both delicate and difficult to put into words.
Musically, 3, 10, Why, When sits at the crossroads of R&B, electronica, and pop, but Woon’s impressionistic touch keeps it from ever feeling boxed in. Sharp, spiky percussion bleeds into lush string passages, motifs of restless 3 a.m. solitude intertwine with moments of deep belonging. It unsettles as much as it soothes—a rare duality that only Woon seems able to conjure.
Released on his own label, Also Can, named after a Malaysian English phrase meaning “that works too”, the album represents more than just a comeback. It’s Woon testing whether independence can nurture, rather than suffocate, creativity. “I don’t really know how to explain this music,” he confesses. “It’s extraordinary to me that it exists at all.”
And that’s precisely the point. In a time of relentless output, 3, 10, Why, When feels like the rarest kind of record: one that only exists because it had to.
“3, 10, Why, When,” out now on Also Can.
Lyrics_ When
[Intro]
3, 10, Why, When
[Verse]
When my hips get tight
When my mind gets mean
When I'm covered in dirt
When I feel unseen
When my friends are hurting
When the world won't change
When we keep it moving
On a planet in space
Let the stress slide out
Let it feed the weeds
Let it make new life
Grow the greenest green
Gonna count to 3
Gonna count to 10
Not a question why
It's a question of when
[Chorus]
3, 10, Why, When
(Gonna count to 3)
(Gonna count to 10)
(Not a question why)
(It's a question of when)
[Verse]
I'm a broken man
I'm a sprawling sky
And I float on air
When I find my stride
In thе fog of peacetime
On my islе of greed
When the rhythm gets boring
When I forget to breathe
When it makes no sense
When it's going wild
Need the mind of a monk
And the heart of a child
Gonna count to 3
Gonna count to 10
Not a question why
It's a question of when
[Pre-Chorus]
And it's almost time...
[Chorus]
1, 2, 3, 10, Why, When
(Gonna count to 10)
(Not a question why)
(It's a question of when)
3, 10, Why, When
(Gonna count to 10)
(Not a question why)
(It's a question of when)
1, 2, 3, 10, Why, When
(Gonna count to 10)
(Not a question why)
(It's a question of when)
3, 10, Why, When
(Gonna count to 10)
(Not a question why)
(It's a question of when)
[Post-Chorus]
Yeah there's no one here
And I'm standing by
Been dead for a month
And it's almost time
I'm a broken man
I'm a sprawling sky
And I float on air
When I find my stride
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You nailed this review. I agree with every word.