Breakfast radio hosts are like spouses, colleagues, siblings and parents: they can be really, really annoying. It’s often a matter of timing – you might find a certain presenter grating at seven in the morning, but the same one prattling on after lunch totally inoffensive. Yet such a visceral, borderline irrational reaction does make the early morning slot a dicey endeavour. Nick Grimshaw will already be well aware of this occupational hazard as he takes over the 6 Music breakfast show from Lauren Laverne – he helmed Radio 1’s more high-profile equivalent between 2012 and 2018. As he kicks off his debut programme with the kind of hushed reverence that has long been de rigueur on the station, it’s obvious he is doing his best not to rile the faithful.
I don’t find Grimshaw remotely irritating, though I can see why his (now toned-down) persona – slightly ditzy, chummily familiar – might not be for everyone. Personally, I’m very much looking forward to him bringing more of his giddily droll humour to the show. (We got a sprinkling of comedy this morning, largely courtesy of a an email requesting UB40 from a man eating a pork pie in bed). Yet, unlike his previous gig, the 6 Music breakfast show is clearly not meant to be a personality showcase. It’s not even supposed to be particularly entertaining; 6 Music is all about the songs (the clue’s in the name), something Grimshaw acknowledges early doors. He is “here with one job only: to start your day with the best music”.
This approach means that 6 Music’s rivals are not other stations but music streaming services – and, for the most part, Grimshaw makes an excellent case for the value of the station on these terms. The first half hour is a perfectly calibrated combination of indie classics (New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle), the zeitgeist’s latest (the new Fontaines DC), 00s nostalgia (Simian Mobile Disco’s Hustler), and critically acclaimed music that deserves a wider audience (courtesy of South African artist Moonchild Sanelly). And there’s also something obscure that may be the next big thing (I was delighted to be introduced to the next-gen nu-metal of Toronto’s Doflame). This mix of the comforting and the cutting edge, curated by human beings with great taste, is a salve and joy in a world of coldly generic, algorithmic playlisting.
Yet, for all 6 Music’s taste-making ability, the station also functions as a time warp. Not only has the presenting lineup been largely identical for the past two decades – Grimshaw is a rare new starter – but there’s a roster of tracks that have been in almost constant rotation for the same period. Clearly, Grimshaw is not immune to this requirement for suffocating consistency: cue Beastie Boys’ Intergalactic, Alright by Supergrass and the Smiths’ How Soon Is Now?
Most of these came as part of Cloudbusting – the closest thing the breakfast show has to a feature (blessedly, in my opinion) – which involves an hour of upbeat music designed to combat the grey weather. In terms of non-musical interludes, we get a funny and lively (if not overly insightful) interview with Leigh Bowery’s friend Sue Tilley – who discusses her book and an upcoming exhibition about the iconic performance artist – and a quick chat with Laverne before she returns in the mid-morning slot. Here, Grimshaw reflects on his first show. “I was really overthinking it,” he admits, before realising “it’s literally just pressing play and talking in between those songs.” No, it’s not a broadcasting revolution, but with a newly subdued Grimshaw and some excellent tunes, the 6 Music breakfast show is in safe hands.
• Nick Grimshaw’s 6 Music breakfast show is on weekdays from 7am
