Jordan Rakei shares new track 'Nerve' - premiere

New music to listen to this week

Jordan Rakei (Holly Fernando)

Since relocating from Brisbane to London, multi-instrumentalist Jordan Rakei has collaborated with the likes of fellow up and coming talent Loyle Carner and Tom Misch.

He recently signed to Ninja Tune (Bonobo, Roots Manuva, Kate Tempest), and just announced his debut album Wallflower, which is due for release on 22 September this year.

We're premiering his new track "Nerve", which brings in pop and R&B influences on the chorus but also features these gorgeous strings, a hefty funk riff and a definite James Blake influence on the vocals - you can attribute that to his talent as a producer.

Check it out below:

Q&A with Jordan Rakei

What are you listening to at the moment?

I'm listening to a lot of Laura Marling. I only discovered her about three months ago. She's incredibly impressive and her output is insane.

Crazy that she's only 27 and she's got five of albums under her belt! I've also just discovered this guy called Kenneth Whalum. He's a rare gem - mixing different genres together. He's got an amazing soulful voice, but the instrumentation lends itself to some psychedelic movements. A mixture of atmospheric guitars with a bit of hip-hop. Really cool

There’s a great funk riff in ‘Nerve’ but then quite a pop/R&B-infused chorus + the lovely strings - what drew you to that sound?

When I was writing ’Nerve', I was really focusing on maintaining a traditional song structure but I wanted to layer it up loads to try to create a wall of sound effect. I love strings so much, so I'm glad that they made it onto the track. As for the guitar, that would be the great input from The Invisible's frontman and guitarist Dave Okumu who is an absolute beast… I’m very humbled to have him be a part of this tune!

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Well my album is released in September and I have a big tour lined up. I'm playing for the first time in America in September, which is really exciting. Then I'm traveling around the UK and Europe, including my biggest show yet at Shepherd's Bush Empire on 20th October.

What was the first gig you ever played and what's been the best so far?

The first gig I ever played was down at my local pub in Brisbane. It was for the launch of my first EP and the vibe was insane - all my family and friends were there! My favourite gig I've played would have to be the last time I was in Sydney. The crowd were so up for a good time, I think we went on at about 11pm on a Friday night, so you can imagine they were already on a mad one.

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Nerve, the new single from Jordan Rakei, is out now. You can pre-order his debut album Wallflower here.

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