LIVE REVIEW | JORDAN RAKEI | ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON | 01/10/2024 by Tom Jenkinson

It takes a special kind of artist to do the Royal Albert Hall justice: hosting three tiers of seating, along with private boxes and floor standing, the venue provides a 360-degree view of the performance. There is quite literally nowhere to hide if you are a shrinking wallflower. Equally, the acoustic make up of the room means everything can be heard, felt even, so there is no room for error when it comes to musicianship. In short, if you don’t have the goods then don’t bother, the Royal Albert Hall is not for you. Tougher still, it takes a brave performer to transform a room like this into your own. And yet, this is exactly what Jordan Rakei sets out as his mission on Tuesday night: the floorspace is decorated in rugs, lamps, and sunflowers, items which could have been plucked from his own living room. He packs the stage not just with his own band, but with half an orchestra, backing singers, and a Corsican vocal group.

The set begins wordlessly, with Rakei jumping straight into ‘Learning‘, ‘Mad World’, and ‘Freedom’ before he even has the chance to say hello. His demeanour is effortless but every note from the opening vocal of ‘Learning‘ punctuates the orchestral build up and there feels like there is a chill in the air. He shares early on that he booked the Royal Albert Hall with no new material, and 2024’s The Loop was written specifically for this night.

Rakei’s set flitters from material across his career, carefully selecting songs that tell the story of his career up until tonight. Newer tracks such as radio-hit ‘Flowers’ feel mature and confident, every instrument given space to breathe, with Rakei weaving his impressive vocal capabilities in between the many layers of the band. Meanwhile older songs such as ‘Eye to Eye’; a track written by Rakei when he first moved to London a decade ago, pays homage to his origins; not just in London, but in music before announcing the track was written in homage to his biggest influence, Jeff Buckley.

Arguably one of the biggest challenges for any singer/songwriter hoping to fill the Royal Albert Hall is the ability to command the level of presence required. Rakei is modest in his manner but delivers with his remarkable ear for collaborative work. This is brought into sharp focus when the stage turns to darkness and vocal group Idirisi Ensemble take the reins, performing their breathtaking take on traditional Corsican vocal music, before Rakei picks up with ‘Forgive’. It is a special moment, and one that shows not only his versatility as a performer, but also his recognition of the importance of what and who has come before him.

Jordan Rakei closes his appearance with an encore of ‘Hopes and Dreams’ and ‘Mind’s Eye’ to rapturous applause. It is difficult to see the night’s performance as anything less than a firm establishment of Rakei’s permanence now on the music scene. But more than that, it is evident that he is a steward for music, preserving and perpetuating sound and history through his music. Rakei is confident in his own unique sound, but he recognises it is built on the foundations set down by those before him.

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Tom Jenkinson

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