by Habina Seo
Since attracting the praise of luminaries such as Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Steve Vai and David Crosby, Jacob Collier has since released three award-winning 'Djesse' volumes out of four. His unique, multi-screen covers achieved him a legendary status in the music world, ranging from Carpenter’s ‘Close To You’, Gershwin’s ‘Fascinating Rhythm’, Stevie Wonder’s ‘Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing’ and the Oklahoma opening ‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning’, to traditional choral anthems such as ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ and ‘Jerusalem’. His remarkable modernist jazz style may be off-putting to some, simply because it ‘isn’t nice to listen to’, particularly in his early years of experimentation with harmony and rhythm. It is certainly not the popular style of music that many are familiar with - the use of the iconic ‘harmonizer’ keyboard to allow him to sing multiple parts in real time allowed him to branch out into highly complex harmonic and rhythmic techniques that were not brought to light in combination with the traditionally simple harmonization of his covered songs. Since showing off the experimentation and musical freedom in his two-time GRAMMY winning album ‘In My Room’, which as the title would suggest, was crafted entirely in his room in his London home, Collier has seemed to tamed his abilities in his new set of four volumes ‘Djesse’, first released in 2018.
With a range of influences that seem to cover almost areas of music history, theory and culture, Djesse volume one does not initially seem much different from ‘In My Room’ when the opening piece of the album is heard. However there is a clear sense of heightened scale, including a full symphony orchestra (the Metropole Orkest), as well as greater use of technology in the production, including a more ‘digital’ sound overall, provided by electronic instruments rather than an entirely acoustic set-up. The pieces range from choral pieces which are reminiscent of modern sacred music (featuring Voces8), Eastern fusions with Moroccan musician Hamid El Kasri, to sensitive and heartfelt ballads accompanied by a classical or acoustic sound (including his own mother’s violin solo) and revamped, Jacobean style pop classics by The Police.
The second volume contrasts greatly with most of the preceding works - it gives a feeling of being in nature, with references to folk music and with a greater emphasis on acoustic instruments. Featuring Sam Amidon and Steve Vai, this volume is still full of contrasting works. An a capella arrangement of ‘Moon River’ is something otherworldly and of a grand scale, reminiscent of the very beginnings of Collier’s music career, whereas ‘Bakume’ and ‘Make Me Cry’ are intimate, folky pieces which is unlike anything the musician has created before (although parallels could be made with ‘Hideaway’ and ‘Hajanga’ from In My Room). As well as continuing the use of acoustic orchestra, this volume features writing for fiddle and solo violin, hand percussion and heavily distorted electric guitar. The volume ends with a completely stripped back, sensitive ballad played on a single guitar that could hypnotise any listener to sleep.
Supposedly depicting the ‘night life’, Volume 3 opens with a bizarre electronic introduction featuring fragments of the pieces to follow in the album (e.g. the opening riff of ‘Sleeping on my dreams’) in an entanglement of sampled sounds doused in various digital effects. Perhaps the most pop-influenced of all, this volume features both simplified and complex (i.e typical ‘Jacobean’) styles of music. Some of the pieces in this volume, such as All I Need, In My Bones, and Sleeping On My Dreams, are much more singable songs that could pass as a modern top-of-the-charts song in comparison to his older work. A suitable range of recognisable guest artists is featured: Kimbra, Daniel Caesar, Tori Kelly and even Ty Dolla $ign, among others. Previously introduced as the ‘funky’ volume, volume three has perhaps revived a new side to Collier’s old ways of harmonising and orchestrating; one that the masses perceived as hard to listen to, or too extortionate and over-the-top. He demonstrates how his skills of vocal layering and harmonisation can be subtly and at the right times for impact, in each of these ‘pop’ style songs. For instance, there are incredible musical nuances found in the production of ‘Sleeping On My Dreams (perhaps the simplest out of all his work), which creates a fully developed, precise and detailed sound that is distinctive of Jacob’s music (such as a microtonal Bach chorale serving as the pre-chorus), as well as reserving the highly dissonant and altered chords for interjections such as the introduction and in between verses. However, he still revels in harmonic and instrumental experimentation, this time with a greater focus on post-production effects and the environment created for the listener. Similarly to volume 2, the album concludes with an extremely gentle and subtly produced electronic lullaby. The now unfamiliar, acoustic-sounding instruments shaker, sparkling bells, acoustic guitar - perhaps as a nod back to the previous volume - in combination with warping, hypnotic digital effects make up the final song ‘To Sleep’.
Although not obvious to a first-time listener, one thing that Jacob Collier has always managed to capture the essence of is an unusual way to reach a listener’s emotions. Even without the knowledge of music theory to decode his music, the surprising yet seemingly familiar ways in which he harmonises familiar tunes brings a refreshing, and thus highly effective, evoking of emotion. For instance, in 2015, Jacob covered the traditional tune of ‘Danny Boy’ with his harmoniser and solo piano. By basing his harmonic progressions on the traditional structure, and altering and swapping those with additional colour and those that surprisingly complement the tune. This highly sensitive and mature live performance feels entirely natural and almost improvised. The intense yet unforced rubato strings together dissonant chords as if they were the original harmony to end on a homely and familiar arrival.
With the fourth volume of Djesse arriving imminently, listeners are keen to see what more Collier has to offer for the finale. With the most recent volume however, it might seem that some of his older fans are not entirely supportive of the pop style. Although the musician’s popularity and exposure has increased massively since the release of Djesse (particularly Vol.3), some critics, though supportive of his growth, worry that the direction he will take his music in is in a way that pleases the masses but not professionals or theorists (who are many of the fans of his earlier work), thus losing the maturity and complexity that he had as a student. For instance, once again referencing Sleeping on my Dreams, the lyrical intent is most likely about the end of a relationship. However, without reading into the lyrics, the listener would not have known this due to the uplifting and innocent nature of the music. Compare this to ‘Danny Boy’, where the abstract, mysterious yet touching emotions of the famous ballad has been conveyed effectively by the reharmonization. Some could say that this sort of comparison shows the shallow and often out-of-touch nature of mass-produced music, and it is this shallowness that Collier should not fall into. On the other hand, if Collier’s style is welcomed and integrated into the popular culture of music, perhaps others will look up to the high standard and musical potential of his currently more widely accessible pieces, and act as a major influential figure in the music world, while simultaneously growing his repertoire of wider influences for his own works.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1qVaRy6kQoZkkyIHFPfJsW?si=d5tSEPbUTuOIYI01Lyy7_g
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