reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

It is helpful to know where The Pool Project was recorded. Oliver Patrice Weder, a Swiss composer residing in Spain, recorded the album with friends in a pool house, surrounded by an evergreen oak tree forest, just outside of Madrid.

Weder has an intriguing musical history, channeling his love for The Doors‘ keyboard-based work into more classical and jazz-orientated work. Keeping this open musical policy, he sketched the music for The Pool Project in this restful area, before bringing friends in to contribute. The instrumentation speaks more of jazz, including voices, alto flute, bass clarinet and percussion, with Weder himself providing keyboards and electronics.

Weder’s own company Spitfire Audio are simultaneously releasing a sound library, giving composers and producers the opportunity to manipulate the sounds from the album for their own purposes. The toolkit offers an extension of these sounds, capturing the acoustics of the pool house, and is offered as an easy-to-use plug-in.

What’s the music like?

As restful as can be. The lapping of the water and the soft, Satie-like piano loop used in Rainbow Fish are indications of the pace at which Weder is going to operate. Satie is a good point of reference, for this piece operates along the line and rhythmic cadence of his Gymnopédies, developing its ideas subtly.

Weder uses imaginative orchestration to allow his ideas to bloom. The winsome bass clarinet in Lala, or the mellow alto flute on Rainbow Fish are really nice touches, as is the older, slightly untempered quality he gives to the piano, with its soft undercurrents of melody. This gives the chromatic line on Encina a displaced quality, also adding a mellow tone to the soft oscillations of Peter.

Forest Glade bubbles with life, introducing a steady but unobtrusive beat to go with its softly reverberating phrases, secured from a delayed Wurlitzer electric piano.

Does it all work?

It does. Everything about this meditation is unforced, Weder’s ideas allowed to pursue a naturally evolving path until they come to rest. Sometimes the listener is invited to sit back and enjoy the lightly applied jazz flavourings to the melodies, but then on occasion Weder complements the slow, quiet music with pockets of reviving energy.

The guest instrumentalists pitch their contributions just right, and deserve to be credited – Clara Gallardo on fulsome but mellow alto flute, while Joaquín Sánchez Gil moves from light meanderings on Peter to more outright, jazz-influenced work on Lala. Guitarist David del Cerro Turner frames the closing Distant Island beautifully, while percussionist Juan Espiga brings the necessary movement to Forest Glade.

Is it recommended?

It is. The Pool Project is a beautifully executed piece of communal meditation, its simple phrases blossoming into restful tableaus of music.

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Jordan Rakei is hitting a rich vein of form and productivity in his musical life. What We Call Life, though, is his most meaningful and personal album to date. It is an exploration of his experiences during therapy, and in particular ‘positive psychology’. In this deeply personal exercise he learned a lot about himself, his behaviour patterns and anxiety triggers, and how his marriage compares to that of his own parents.

Not the average material for a soulful singer – but Rakei takes it as the basis for a profound look at his own life.

What’s the music like?

Perhaps not surprisingly, What We Call Life is deeply expressive. Yet Jordan Rakei manages to avoid any charges of self-obsession that could be levelled at him. Instead, he makes every situation and experience very relatable, and he does that through his own voice – which is a subtly powerful instrument and communicator.

His words are very easy to follow but the song structures really help his cause, as does the instrumentation. The string arrangements are beautifully managed, the slightly skewed beats with hints of funk and / or soul at every turn, the delivery in a conversational style – all these aspects of his style add extra authenticity and authority.

The songs are deeply considered – and even the bigger structures like Brace take their time but leave their mark too. The title track is especially impressive, but Rakei’s most vulnerable moments – Clouds, Send My Love and Illusion – are his most revealing.

Does it all work?

Yes. With each album Jordan Rakei’s authority grows, and this one is the most consistent yet. Measured but heartfelt, each of What We Call Life’s songs is both believable and relatable.

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly. Few singers could match his poise and personal style at the moment, and it is all the more impressive given that no singers sound like Jordan Rakei at the moment. He is a serious singer, but he is a compelling one too.

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