The elegant, frayed decay of the Albert Hall gives it its charm, its chunky charisma. It is arguably our finest live venue, the balcony like a hug, the room something of an architectural cuddle. And if it’s not homely enough, tonight there are rugs on the stage, and lamps dotted about as well, so that it feels as though Jordan Rakei has invited us into his living room, with the conversation of the crowd a kind of aural smudge in the background domesticity. Even the security and bar staff seem to have OD’d on a whole bunch of friendly pills. And that’s before the first note of music.
Being a Dad, there’s a considerable stretch of time when you are the source of musical intel to your kids, just as I took my cues from my own father and his vinyl collection that mesmerised me a child. Then something odd happens – a switch is flicked – and then it’s suddenly the kids telling you about stuff you need to listen to. And Jordan Rakei was one such example… my stepson Harrison (who is now a musician in London and makes music in a similar vibe – check out Harrison Smart on Spotify) played me music by Jordan Rakei, along with people connected in that musical web – Loyle Carner and Tom Misch et al. Tonight tracks come from across Rakei’s relatively recent career. (As an aside, it’s Rak-aye, not Rak-eee, as I have been mispronouncing to my music journalism class, from Rakei’s Maori family background – he only moved to London in 2015). Naturally quite a few of these are from the new cut – this year’s The Loop – pretty much every one of those tracks aside from the last two on the album. The evening starts with ‘Learning’ from The Loop, and the tone is set immediately. I’m not entirely sure what we’re calling this genre… kind of somewhere where intelligent jazz meets contemporary urban meets late-night soulful smooching. Aurally, at times it’s like someone took the multitracked soft wash of vocals from 10CC’s ‘I’m Not In Love’ and put a drum machine underneath it all… like the ethereal beauty of the clouds with the kick of the city beneath.
Rakei is himself a multi-instrumentalist who can pretty much do the music himself, effortlessly switching from keys to guitar to bass. His voice is as effortless as Chet Baker (he is annoyingly just as handsome), although he is able to easily lift to different registers, and soar. Older tracks are also dusted off – ‘Mad World’ for instance, and ‘Mind’s Eye’ that closes out the set. All are defined by their apparently simple beauty that belies complex construction – with Byzantine time signatures and tempos that suggest something mathematical, or scientific, like a spirograph drawing out beautifully perfect patterns. The lamps switch to pink and then to red, creating the vibe of nocturnal cities and a love of those elastic hours when most decent folk have gone to bed. The band seem to love it; the crowd certainly do. The handclaps of ‘Friend or Foe’ close out the main set, while ‘Hopes and Dreams’ is singled out for a piano solo as part of a two track encore. A particular highlight is the tight percussion and gorgeous guitar melodies of ‘Everything Everything’, that cut right across the smoky, night-lit space of Albert Hall. ‘Freedom’ also allows the band to add their punchy vocals, a very international ensemble including a South African guitarist, a fabulous female bass player operating across five strings and beautiful BVs all the way from south-east London.
‘Friend or Foe’ asks Rakei? “Friend”, Manchester responds.
Photo Credit: Simon A. Morrison
Simon is a writer, broadcaster and countercultural investigator. Over the last 15 years he has written for everyone from The Guardian to Loaded magazine, presented television for Rapture TV and hosted radio programs for the likes of Galaxy. He has also found time to earn a Masters Degree in Novel Writing and write three books (a collection of journalism, a guidebook to Ibiza and one on financial planning for young people – the most varied publishing career it’s possible to have) and establish and run a PR company, Pad Communications, looking after a range of leisure and lifestyle clients.He currently splits his time between researching his PhD at Leeds University, looking into various countercultural movements; consulting freelance for PR clients; writing for the likes of Marie Claire in Australia, The Big Issue and the Manchester Evening News, where he reviews concerts, theatre and is their Pub & Bar Editor. He is also broadcaster, appearing regularly on Tony Livesey’s late night 5Live show for the BBC, and also for BBC Radio Manchester Gourmet Night food and drink show.Simon’s main focus has been music and travel. His career has included editing Ministry of Sound’s magazine in Ibiza for two summers and also writing two long-running columns for DJmagazine – ”Around The World in 80 Clubs” (which took him everywhere from Beijing to Brazil, Moscow to Marrakech) and “Dispatches From The Wrong Side”. A collection of the latter was published in the UK and US as the book Discombobulated, including tales as varied as gatecrashing Kylie Minogue’s birthday party, getting deported from Russia, having a gun held to his head by celebrity gangster Dave Courtney and going raving in Ibiza with Judith Chalmers. He has recently written for the likes of Red magazine, Hotline, Clash, Tilllate, Shortlist and the Manchester Evening News. Pad Communications has recently consulted for clients as varied as Manchester nightclubs and New Zealand toy companies.On a personal note, Simon is a Londoner who left the capital at the age of 18 and never looked back. He sees himself as a citizen of the global dancefloor having lived in Sydney, Los Angeles, Ibiza and Amsterdam. However his life is now rather more sedentary. After all his adventures he bumped into and subsequently married his highschool sweetheart from their North London Grammar. They now live in Stockport with their four children and four chickens, trying to live the good life. Simon recently turned 40 and is steadfastly refusing to have a midlife crisis – as in, growing a ponytail and buying a shiny red sports car.OK, maybe he’ll buy the sports car…
