Tim Jackson‘s story reads almost like a musical prodigy tale that got quietly shelved for years. Taught piano through the Suzuki method from age three, pitch-perfect by ear at four and writing his own songs by five, Jackson eventually let music slide into a passion project while life took over, releasing two independent albums, 2019’s “Better Later Than Never” and the lockdown-era “Litter In The Park,” without ever getting the attention they deserved. That changes now with “Can’t Stop The Rain,” out September 25th, his first single under a newly signed global distribution deal with Right Track/Universal Music and the lead track from his forthcoming album “Putting In The Hours.” Recorded at Love Electric Studios in Hornsey with a guitar solo from childhood friend Seb Wesson, the song was built, in Jackson’s own words, as an experiment in what Steely Dan might have sounded like writing a Rolling Stones song in the 70s.
All the classic strongpoints of the yacht rock genre are here: the crisp production and the luscious harmony with an occasional jazzy twist that place this comfortably in that Steely Dan-adjacent lineage the press materials point toward. The vocal treatment is genuinely intriguing to listen to, and the guitar work throughout is tasty, exactly the kind of playing that lets Wesson’s solo land as a highlight wow moment. It’s a song built around a fairly simple metaphor, life’s turbulence versus the pull of something calmer, but the arrangement carries enough sophistication that the simplicity never feels thin.
For an artist who spent years treating this as a side pursuit, “Can’t Stop The Rain” arrives sounding like someone who’s been ready for a wider stage for a long time. With a proper label deal now behind him and a full album still to come in early 2027, this single makes a strong case that Jackson’s overdue moment has finally arrived.
