@torikelly . Where do I even START with you???
This session will be forever etched in my memory as one of the craziest musical experiences of my life. There is literally no other vocalist on the face of the Earth to match the range, agility, colour, phrasing, attention to detail and PATIENCE you have. My harmonic ambition for this verse rendered it practically unsingable… but if there was one singer who could do it justice, I KNEW it had to be you. Safe to say you just blew it completely out of the water.
I swung by Tori’s house last October, for a lightning-fast session, as she had to rush off perform with @lawrencetheband that very night. As a result, the entire session lasted approximately an hour. I left in a state of shock 🤯 and, a mess of inspiredness, recorded all the harmonies beneath, that very night, before flying to Mumbai and delivering Vol. 4 to mastering 48 hours later.
And yet, with all the craziness of her musicianship, the thing that blows me the most away about Tori is her human spirit. Tori - I am just so proud to be your friend and SO HAPPY that you’re on this planet, raising the bar for all of us. You really are the best of the best of the best.
Bridge Over Troubled Water OUT NOW!!!
I cannot wait to do this live someday, somehow 😈
Here are some of my favourite audience choirs of all time.
1. Glastonbury Festival, UK, July 2023.
2. Rome, Italy, November 2022.
3. Singapore, November 2022.
4. Sydney, Australia, with @natalie_imbruglia , Dec 2022.
5. Bangalore, India, November 2023.
6. Vienna, Austria, July 2023.
7. Vienne, France, in the rain, July 2023.
8. Dallas, USA, April 2022.
9. London, UK, June 2022.
ONE MONTH UNTIL DJESSE VOL. 4 TOUR BEGINS!!!!
Cannot wait to sing with you all again ♥️
Happy 8th birthday, “In My Room”!!!
Created and constructed in my childhood music room by myself, in London, over three months.
I can remember it crystalline - the feeling of unearthing a world that did not yet exist. I’d just turned 21, spritely and hungry for a challenge. Never having made an album before, I knew I wanted to give it a try. So I set myself a deadline and began to experiment. Three months later, I had 11 songs.
Thus began an adventure that young Jacob couldn’t have ever imagined, that’s taken me around the world many times, across four further albums involving more than a hundred thousand humans – and still, I return to these songs often, for grounding, to remember the feeling of it all beginning, by myself in a little room in London, inside my imagination.
To all of you for whom these songs have played a part in your life – thank you for welcoming them, and for playing such a meaningful part of mine ♥️🏕️
Some Audience Choir highlights so far this year:
1. San Francisco. 8000 strong. The biggest choir of this tour so far and a mighty powerhouse at that.
2. North Carolina. The first outdoor choir of this run, and one of the most emotional, languid, and memorable for me.
3. Nashville @ The Grand Ol’ Opry. A truly special night, featuring 6-part bitriadic antiphony between balcony and floor level(!!!) AND first time ever creating parts in contrary motion from a single-note unison….things got wild.
4. Minneapolis. The first time cracking beyond stepwise movement using curves(!!!!) I’ve long dreamed of this.
5. Frost School of Music, Miami - exploring during a masterclass. Thank you @frostschoolum for having me!
6. Denver. Where the call-and-response got friskitonal
7. Chicago. A sound that barely fits into a phone - in the room it blazed like a furnace. If you were there, you know 💛
8. Kansas City. An improvised ensemble “Close To You” in honour of @burtbacharach which made me cry.
9. Salt Lake City. One of the spiciest crowds of all, and also one of the most chromatically supple 😋
10. Sketching out ideas ( what I do at 6am when I can’t sleep ). What thrills me is how endless the possibilities are. It feels like the tip of the iceberg, STILL.
To all who came and joined the fray - THANK YOU!!!
KIMBRA APPRECIATION POST 🌈
For the last six weeks I have been touring in the astoundingly special company of @kimbramusic , who has been opening for the show each night with splendour, depth and mastery. Kimbra has been one of my all-time favourite artists and dearest friends for the past decade. What a joy to get to share a portion of this adventure together. Love ya madly, K ♥️
And now - the mighty @emilykingmusic joins the fray!
Another immeasurable moment from Monday night with the mighty @johnlegend at the helm 💙
This was our first time ever performing Bridge live, with less than 5 minutes rehearsal time to put it together beforehand. Full video on YouTube!
