Djesse Vol. 4, a Musical Melting Pot
Written by: Kelly Carciente
The sensational, multi-talented artist Jacob Collier concludes his six-year-long, 50+ track project Djesse with his fourth instalment released February 29th, 2024! Collier delved into his love for genre-bending across his albums, collaboration and his zest for learning that comes with it in recent ˚1824 press conference.
The 29-year-old singer and composer first gained acclaim for his YouTube covers, dating back to 2013. His 2016 debut album In My Room cemented him as a musical prodigy, winning him his first two GRAMMYs for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for “You And I,” and Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals for “Flintstones,” categories in which Collier would be nominated and receive wins for in his future releases.
Collier notes beginning his project Djesse in 2018 with an overpowering eagerness to build a project bigger than his own capabilities. The songwriter describes his initial desire to release Djesse as one massive album, but its length was overwhelming to take on in a year. Therefore, Djesse’s creation splintered into four, taking up the better half of a decade. The album takes on a variety of themes, what Collier describes as an adventure of, “a celebration of humankind … learning, exploration, personal inspiration, exploring the world, storytelling, and having a bunch of fun.”
While he describes the first three albums of this project as having their own respective “sonic universes,” Collier found creative liberty in this album’s diverse selection of genres. The musician’s appreciation of the minutiae of cultural differences in music remained the constant in the cohesion of varying genres, collaborators and musical influences. He mentions playing with varying styles, production elements, and different voices, producing tracks across several genres, including pop, jazz, alternative, gospel, and reggaeton, among others.
Learning & Collaboration
Learning is an integral part of Collier’s motivation as an artist. He emphasizes his mother, Suzie Collier, as his biggest influence. His mother, the accomplished violinist, conductor, and musical educator at the Royal Academy of Music in London, provided a nurturing, calm, and sensitive approach to raising her son, thus providing him with an immense sense of trust and self-belief, further influencing his confidence in creating and learning. He recalls noticing his mother’s students leaving sessions energized and instilled with a new sense of faith. As a result, he unconsciously absorbed her wisdom and trust in others and the ability to put that trust into other people such as his collaborators and audiences. Collier also takes after his mother as a teacher of music composition masterclasses, as well as offering different opportunities to share his intrigue and acquired knowledge with prospective musicians. He explains: “If I learn something or understand something, there is no reason for me to hold back and hold it onto myself, I might as well share it immediately … it’s helpful for me and everyone if people take the ideas and run with them and make whatever they can … I love the feeling of helping people be more themselves.”
Known as the prototypical collaborator of the music industry, Collier has invited collaboration as a means of creativity and a source for learning. He has extensive experience working with hundreds of ensembles, orchestras, and choirs, but is also recognized for his conductance and incorporation of concertgoers’ voices to create harmonies, percussion, and a musical foundation for some of his songs. The opening track of Djesse Vol. 4, titled “100,00 Voices,” encompasses this notion. Collier explains the spiritual and emotional experiences that come with navigating “the visual language of the audiences,” from his 100-show tour in this song, further amplifying his drive for collaboration.
Collaboration is seen throughout all four volumes. In anticipation for the release of his latest album, Collier put out a number of singles featuring a diverse range of artists and musicians, such as John Mayer and Lizzy McAlpine on “Never Gonna Be Alone,” Shawn Mendes, Stormzy and Kirk Franklin on “Witness Me,” and Camilo on his latest single “Mi Corazón.” Collier describes music as a universal language, drawing from a myriad of cultural backgrounds and language differences. He explains this as a means of curiosity: “This is so interesting to me … how do I deepen my understanding and fascination with this [area of music?] And there’s no better way of doing that than with collaborating with the person that’s inspired you so much.” Collier describes such an inspiration in his work, such as incorporating sitars and Indian musical influences: “My job is to describe the world as I see it and hear it, to be honest about my perspective. And I just love all music. There’s nothing I’ve ever heard that I feel like there’s nothing in it for me. There is always something.” He translates this notion through his overall range. Collier invites collaboration with open arms, despite what he describes as the “myth of collaboration and life”:
“If you are too big and take up too much space in a room, then there will be less space for other people to find themselves. There is a tendency people have in recording studios, and life, to make themselves smaller so that other people are more comfortable. But, I think one thing I’ve learned over the course of the last six years is the transformative nature of being to scale in a recording studio and not shrinking down my ambition and ideas, and I find that, when I do that, there is actually more space for the people around me to be big and comfortable and feel confident.”
Collier’s complete openness to a broad range of music and arbitrary outcomes has given him a leg up, allowing to soak up the beauty from various cultures, and reintroducing them in a completely new light. Even through language barriers, or different customary instruments, Collier has worked with legends all around the world, including Oumou Sangaré from Mali, Anoushka Shankar from India, Camilo from South America, Aespa from South Korea, and more.
“Witness Me,” a sensitive-tempo’ed track accompanied by a gorgeous choir of harmonies, came about through Collier and Shawn Mendes’ mutual admiration of gospel music. Kirk Franklin and his ensemble of gospel singers, which lended to the recording of four songs on Djesse Vol 4, built the foundation for this song’s power and spirit. He gave further weight to the song with Stormzy’s slam-poetry-esque spoken-word. “Witness Me,” is the prototypical song on this album that demonstrates Collier’s incredibly skilled nature as a producer to meld diverse genres, voices, and themes to create such a unique, creative and cohesive sound.
Ultimately, Collier explains, “this [album] is for everybody, everybody is welcome, and I hope there is something for everyone.”
Djesse Vol. 4 encapsulates Jacob Collier’s cathartic celebration of life, joy and humanity. Although this album concludes such a monumental project and period in the singer’s life, Jacob Collier explains this completion as a mere beginning to his career with his “creative aperture widened,” in anticipation for the fun in what’s to come. After years of acquiring new talents and putting his faith into his collaborators, this musician is ready to begin his career. Check out Djesse Vol. 4 now and catch Jacob Collier on his upcoming tour this Spring!
Where to find Jacob Collier: Spotify | YouTube | Instagram | X/Twitter | Website
