Jacob Collier: ‘The Light for Days’

Just when you think you’ve heard all an artist has to offer, they produce something as entrancing as Jacob Collier’s ‘The Light for Days’.

With seven GRAMMY® wins and performances to crowds around the world, Collier was on top form at this summer’s Love Supreme Festival, but this new collection of originals and covers seems to herald a new direction after the intense productions of the Djesse project.

With just a couple of guitars over four days, The Light for Days comprises six originals and five covers and that voice. Of course, there are several voices, with Collier’s signature use of harmony, particularly on the Disney-esque Keep an Eye on Summer. There is a warmth and personality to these tracks, whether it’s the originals or the covers from some of his inspirations including James Taylor, The Staves, John Martyn, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

The gorgeous Norwegian Wood is more than a Beach Boys cover, with Collier’s voice and guitar mesmerising. Similarly, on Heaven (Butterflies), where the stripped-back performance seems to allow the guitar and voice to express so much more than some of the big productions on Djesse. Watch the sometimes near-naked Collier coming close to nature in his stunning music video for the latter track, filmed in Costa Rica.

I first heard Collier’s name when I attended an audience with Quincy Jones in 2014, the younger man’s mentor. Q was very clear that we should expect great things and Collier has always delivered. And there’s something achingly intimate about The Light for Days.

Collier has been on my list as a future guest on Harmonious World, but the man is perpetually busy. I’m not giving up hope. Always busy (which probably explains his absence from Harmonious World, Collier last year performed with AURORA on an iceberg for Greenpeace. The man is inventive and inspirational and until I can interview and ask him more about all that, I’ll happily keep listening to The Light for Days.