JORDAN RAKEI - Live From The Royal Albert Hall

A double live album, complete with string ensemble, from tightrope-walking neo-soul artist Jordan Rakei: after six studio LPs, this 2024 date at the Royal Albert Hall captures the Australian/New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist at the perfect moment, fully at ease in the prestigious London venue and in galvanizing sync with both band and audience.

You can sense it right away in "Mad World", stretched from the three-minute radio-friendly studio version to a climax of over five, built on choruses repeated and shared with the crowd. But it's with "Freedom" that the concert really starts to kick into gear, with an exceptional capacity for transport: its limping 12/8 gives loyal drummer Jim McRae the perfect ground for a masterclass in broken beat virtuosity, sweeping the audience along despite - or perhaps precisely because of - a rhythmic pattern that's anything but accommodating.

From here on, the live set unfolds as a journey through the history of soul music and its offshoots, sustained by a versatility that emerges far more clearly live than in the more controlled sound of the studio albums. The classic feel of "Royal", with its bouncing piano chords - a hair's breadth from Stevie Wonder - coexists with the funky, almost afrobeat drive of "Wind Parade", embellished with a double sax-and-trumpet solo. And on "State Of Mind" Rakei picks up the acoustic guitar for an enveloping, supple folk-pop number, in which even hints of Bobby McFerrin-style smooth reggae surface.

But Rakei's groove can also speak a decidedly contemporary language. What takes shape from the synthetic bass of "Clouds" is a post-Dubstep spiritual in the vein of James Blake, ascending heavenward on the beatless arpeggios of the chorus, before plunging back into the urban depths of the riff and the almost rap-like verse. From a crystalline guitar coda, in a surprising quiet/loud zone reminiscent of Explosions In The Sky, emerges "Forgive" instead, lit up by a brilliant solo from guest guitarist Oscar Jerome.

The high point comes with "Eye To Eye", a performance Rakei explicitly dedicates to Jeff Buckley. The opening is indeed understated and introspective, perfectly in line with the latter's mood; but then the track sheds its skin with a Radiohead-esque turn, built on one of the most broken-up, elusive 4/4s imaginable. Offbeats, polyrhythmic layering (with a synth ostinato in 5), and a closing crescendo in 20/4 let the band onstage unleash the full force of their symphonic firepower, decisively surpassing the emotional impact of the 2017 version on "Wallflower".

It's a permeable sonic architecture, capable of flinging itself open to distant worlds and constantly reshuffling the roles of its protagonists: thus, the sacred interlude of "Dieus sal la terra", entrusted to the Idrîsî Ensemble, opens a window onto the medieval Mediterranean before naturally dissolving into "Miracle". On "Cages" Rakei switches to bass, while in the closing of the liberating "Everything Everything" he reinvents himself as a percussionist, flanked by musicians Oli Savil, Fabio De Oliveira and Aula Nascimento.

Also immortalized on video and available in full on YouTube - complete with commentary from the artist - this live recording is the best way to grasp the scale of an out-of-this-world performance: not just the celebration of a successful album, but the snapshot of a musician capable of holding together soul tradition, rhythmic complexity and contemporary sensibility, delivering one of the most thrilling live recordings of recent years.

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30/12/2025