Djesse Vol. 4: Initial Impressions

Intro

Djesse is a four-album project by composer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and all-around musical genius Jacob Collier (born 1994). The series began in 2018 with the release of Djesse Vol. 1, with volumes 2 and 3 released in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Now, the much-anticipated Djesse Vol. 4 has hit the digital shelves.

Though often classed as jazz or jazz-adjacent, Collier defies genre boundaries, often throwing everything but the kitchen sink into his wildly adventurous songs and arrangements. Nevertheless, though these are not concept albums, the four Djesses each have a distinct flavor, reflected in harmonic, instrumental, and lyrical choices. Volume 4 is something of a synthesis of the first three. Let’s start with a summary of the first three volumes. (Those who are familiar with the Djesse project can skip to “Overall Impressions.”)

Djesse Vols. 1-3

Djesse Vol. 1 (2018) is Collier at his most classical and jazzy. Simply looking at the featured artists is enough to get a sense of its tonal landscape: British choral superstars Voces8 make an appearance on “Home Is,” while the Metropole Orkest features on every other track. Even so, across its nine songs, Djesse Vol. 1 never feels tied to a particular moment in musical history. It is, in many respects, fresh. Collier’s incorporation of various polyrhythms and so-called “world music” lends it a folksy, vibrant color, especially on tracks like “Everlasting Motion” (featuring Moroccan musician Hamid El Kasri) and “All Night Long” (a Lionel Richie cover featuring a cappella sensation Take 6). Slower tracks, such as “Ocean Wide, Canyon Deep” (featuring stunning vocals from Laura Mvula) and “Once You,” help to ground the album while reflecting philosophically on love and existence.

Djesse Vol. 2 (2019) represents something of a tonal shift; now the emphasis is on acoustic arrangements and folk-inspired melodies. Many of the lyrical themes are the same: the excitement of love, the changing seasons of life, the meaning of existence. The way these are approached is with hopeful optimism. The album’s best track (if there is one) has to be Collier’s masterful a cappella arrangement of Henry Mancini’s “Moon River,” which won a Grammy for Best Arrangement. Collier has taken a song that exists as little more than a single chorus and expanded it into an 8-minute magnum opus. His creative and expansive use of harmony and pacing is enthralling, keeping the listener riveted throughout the song’s run-time.

If Vol. 2 was a tone shift, Djesse Vol. 3 (2020) is even more so. Here, Collier has taken on the mantle of pop musician and the songs take a turn toward the seductive. Tracks such as “All I Need” and “In My Bones” trend toward bubble-gum pop while maintaining Collier’s trademark harmonic and rhythmic complexity, while “Time Alone With You,” featuring Daniel Caesar, is a sultry invitation to carnal embrace. The album’s artwork—depicting Collier as a field of stars against a dark blue sky—reflects this shift toward “night music.”

After releasing each of the first three Djesse albums one after another, one might have expected Volume 4 to follow suit. However, it would take four years following the release of Djesse Vol. 3 for the fourth installment to arrive. Released on February 29, 2024, the much-anticipated Djesse Vol. 4 is finally here. What follows are my general impressions after a few listens; I may end up doing a more in-depth breakdown of each track later.

Initial Impressions

The scope is massive. Over the course of the album’s 70-minute run time, there’s hardly a genre of music that isn’t touched. Collier shreds and belts like a punk rocker on tracks “100,000 Voices” and “WELLLL,” while he tenderly croons folk-inspired ballads “Little Blue” and “Summer Rain.” There’s even more “world music” featured here on tracks like “A Rock Somewhere” (featuring the sitar stylings of Anoushka Shankar) and “Mi Corazón” (an interesting piece of Latin hip hop featuring Camilo). “Witness Me” (featuring Kirk Franklin, among others) has a gospel flair to it, while “Over You” leans into K-pop and Coldplay thanks to featured guests aespa and Chris Martin. Finally, a cappella gets fair treatment with tracks “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (a worthy successor to Vol. 2’s “Moon River”) and “World O World.”

What many will find most jarring on first listen is the seemingly haphazard way in which all of these influences are integrated, even within a particular song. However, Vol. 4 ought not be left to stand on its own. If Vol. 4 is intended to be a synthesis of the themes from the first three Djesse albums, then it isn’t surprising that it’s all over the place stylistically. At the same time, this feels like Collier at both his most adventurous and his most safe, a strange paradox that defies explanation. The album is quintessential Collier in that it never moves beyond what we’ve already heard from Djesse Vols. 1-3, while at the same time every unexpected twist and turn manages to surprise and shock (and sometimes delight). Collier won’t be put into a box.

On that note, this overview wouldn’t be complete without special mention of “Box of Stars,” a two-part summary of and conclusion to the entire Djesse project. In Vol. 1’s “Overture,” Collier asked, “In my world a box of stars—are you listening?” Here, we are given an answer. In “Box of Stars Pt. 1,” Collier pulls a Freddie Mercury and combines several songs into one 6-minute mega-track; at least, that’s the impression it gives. Part 2 is less a song than a sonic landscape composed of pieces from other Djesse songs. It ebbs and flows with every reference and callback, crescendoing into the return of the Metropole Orkest and Voces8; the latter answer the original question with “In your world a box of stars—I am listening.” Hearing that motif come full circle for the first time was extremely pleasing and the conclusion to the song is one of the most sonically satisfying moments I’ve ever experienced, simply leaving me to say, “Wow.”

Djesse Vol. 4 is an intensely creative and inventive piece of work. It packs a punch. There are very few bad things and many good things to enjoy. Because of Collier’s propensity to throw the kitchen sink into every song, it’s best to view Djesse as a buffet of possibilities, with something available for everyone. This particular album is no exception. In addition to having some genuinely brilliant moments, Vol. 4 as a conclusion to the Djesse project feels…good. It feels right. And that’s worthwhile.