Jordan Rakei

A double live album with a string ensemble in tow, this 2024 date at the Royal Albert Hall captures neo-soul acrobat Jordan Rakei at exactly the right moment. Six studio Lps into his career, the Australian/New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist sounds completely at home in the illustrious London venue, locked into a galvanizing rapport with both band and audience.

You can hear it straight away on “Mad World”, stretched from the studio version’s radio-friendly three minutes into a five-plus-minute climax built around repeated choruses shared with the crowd. But it’s with “Freedom” that the concert really shifts gear and reveals an exceptional pulling power: its lopsided 12/8 gives longtime drummer Jim McRae the ideal terrain for a broken-beat masterclass, drawing the audience in despite — or perhaps precisely because of — a rhythmic feel that’s anything but accommodating.

From there on, the set unfolds as a journey through the history of soul music and its many offshoots, powered by a versatility that comes through far more vividly live than on the more tightly controlled studio records. The classic sweep of “Royal”, with its skipping piano chords just a step away from Stevie Wonder, sits comfortably alongside the funky, near-afrobeat drive of “Wind Parade”, capped by a double sax-and-trumpet solo. On “State Of Mind”, Rakei picks up an acoustic guitar for a supple, enveloping folk-pop turn, with even a hint of Bobby McFerrin-style smooth reggae surfacing along the way.

Rakei’s groove, though, speaks a distinctly contemporary language too. “Clouds” takes shape as a James Blake-like post-dubstep spiritual, rising heavenward on the beatless arpeggios of the chorus before plunging back into the urban depths of a riff-driven, almost rap-like verse. From a crystalline guitar tail — opening into an unexpected Explosions In The Sky-style quiet/loud zone — emerges “Forgive”, lit up by a striking solo from guest guitarist Oscar Jerome.

The high point comes with “Eye To Eye”, which Rakei explicitly dedicates to Jeff Buckley. The opening is subdued and introspective, fully in keeping with that lineage, before the song mutates through a Radiohead-like turn built on one of the most fractured, elusive 4/4 grooves imaginable. Offbeats, layered polyrhythms (including a synth ostinato in 5), and a closing crescendo in 20/4 allow the ensemble to unleash its full symphonic firepower, far surpassing the emotional impact of the 2017 studio version on "Wallflower".

It’s a porous sonic architecture, one that opens onto distant worlds and continually reshuffles the roles onstage. The sacred interlude “Dieus sal la terra”, entrusted to the Idrîsî Ensemble, briefly opens a window onto the medieval Mediterranean before dissolving seamlessly into “Miracle”. On “Cages”, Rakei switches to bass, while the closing release of “Everything Everything” finds him back on percussion, alongside Oli Savil, Fabio De Oliveira, and Aula Nascimento.

Also preserved on video and available in full on YouTube — complete with the artist’s own spoken asides — this live set is the best possible way to grasp the scale of the performance. Not just a celebration of a successful album, but a snapshot of an artist able to hold soul tradition, rhythmic complexity, and contemporary sensitivity in perfect balance, delivering one of the most compelling live recordings of recent years.

(English version created with AI-assisted translation)

30/12/2025