I would like to preface this article by saying that Jacob Collier is an amazing musician that anyone can appreciate. However, with the vast majority of his fan base being fellow musicians, I may refer to things or use terms only musicians will know about. I will link a Wikipedia article or two if you’d like the starting point of a rabbit hole into music theory/production. Other than that, enjoy the review! On August 14, legendary British musician, Jacob Collier released the third album in his four part album series “Djesse.” Since 2014, Jacob has been making music which ranges in anything from a jazz arrangement of The Flintstones theme song (which earned him one of the four Grammys he has) to more pop-influenced songs with artists like Daniel Caesar or Ty Dolla $ign. “Djesse Vol. 3” is truly an amalgamation of so much of his work. With songs like “All I Need” taking on a more pop-centered feel, “In My Bones” with it’s funky lyrics and sound, or even his song “Time Alone With You” featuring Daniel Caesar highlighting his insane knowledge of music theory; being completely in the “made-up key” of A half sharp major. (Which is not the first song he’s done that in). The album’s tracklist consists of 12 songs: “CLARITY,” “Count The People,” “In My Bones,” “Time Alone With You,” “All I Need,” “In Too Deep,” “Butterflies,” “Sleeping On My Dreams,” “Running Outta Love,” “Light It Up On Me,” “He Won’t Hold You,” and “To Sleep.” Three of these songs are a part of his ever growing series of Logic session breakdowns, in which he goes through many of the individual vocal or instrumental tracks, explains his process, and gives a little insight into the background of the songs. In the “All I Need (featuring Mahalia and Ty Dolla $ign)” breakdown, he even jokes about how he beat his record for number of tracks in a song! (Almost 650)! Now, about the actual songs. As I already mentioned, “Djesse Vol. 3” is a complete amalgamation of all the talents and skills Collier has. I think the reason a lot of people, most particularly fellow musicians, adore his music is because of his diverse palate and how he doesn’t just stick to one theme for each song. I would say one of my favorite tracks on the record, and one that displays this perfectly, is “In My Bones” feat. Kimbra & Tank and The Bangas. It starts as a funky, kind of jazzy, poppy tune but as we get further in we’re introduced to some rap / hip-hop themes and even some epic style trumpets and vocals. This song is insanely good and it’s such a unique take on all the styles it represents. Another song I’d like to highlight is “Sleeping On My Dreams.” This song is probably the most “mainstream” sounding song of Collier’s… and it is still insanely detailed and interesting to listen to. While watching the Logic session breakdown video for this song, I was amazed at how many details I missed listening to it in full, yet when you take those little things out it’s not the same. A good example of this is the second verse. Collier will often hide little easter eggs or little bits that make the song feel whole but in this verse he adds so many. One is the sound of beatles flying, panned left to right, when the lyrics go “You could be an animal and all I have to do is be tamed.” And immediately after, the sound of a swish, now panned right to left, when the words are, “I watched you fly ‘round with nothing to lose.” And, of course, one of my favorites: the sound of boots walking when the words are “My boots were getting heavy and I…” The amount of detail Collier puts into his production is insane and this song shows just that. I know it sounds like I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this album or Jacob Collier in general, but that’s because it’s true. If you’ve never listened to his music, I 100% recommend it, whether you’re a musician or not. His songs “Hideaway,” “Moon River,” “With the Love in My Heart,” and “Hajanga” are genuinely some of my favorite songs of all time and at this point I’m just telling you to go listen to Jacob Collier. Overall, “Djesse Vol. 3” is such an amazing album that displays so many of his talents and I’d recommend it to anyone I come across. Evelynne Spencer
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