Jacob Collier Releases Beautiful Ode to Humankind

Jacob Collier now finally released his album Djesse Vol.4 which was six years in the making. The fourth volume of his album series is just as breathtakingly beautiful as the previous chapters. The four volumes all have different sonic worlds. With Djesse Vol.4 Jacob Collier created a record focused on celebrating humankind. How that sounds you might ask? Check it out below because each song takes you into another universe and explores the depths of our emotions. 

Firstly, Jacob Collier planned to produce one huge album, but then decided to split it up into four parts. During the process Jacob opened his mind, invited many artists and orchestras into his creative process and reached a level of spirituality and connection that is out of this world. The king of collaborations has done it again! Jacob Collier gathered artists like Stormzy, Shawn Mendes, John Legend, Chris Martin, Lizzy McAlpine and many others on this masterpiece. He recorded audiences all over the world so actually there is a total of around 100.000 voices on this album . 

If you could set up a setting for a fan for them to listen to the album, what would it look like? 

That is hard to choose for the whole album because it would change for each song. For 100.000 Voices I’d say it sounds best in a stadium, a big setting outdoors in nature. I would say the same about A Rock Somewhere and World O World. Then there’s songs like Box Of Stars which have sort of like a Trance nightclub vibe. There is Little Blue which is somewhere in nature, and Witness Me is kind of like when people head to the gym. Oh, Summer Rain would be beautiful outdoors at night and Mi Corazón would be somewhere dancy. Yeah, it is definitely hard to imagine one place that would suit it. Honestly, whatever space feels good to you personally is great. 

Where did you find the inspiration for the glass sculpture on the album artwork and how do you work to create this meaningful art? 

I’ve been a huge fan of this artist Dustin Yellin for a while now and on this project, we finally got to work together. He is a true world builder and creates these life-sized multidimensional sculptures out of layers of glass and resin and in between the layers he embeds pieces of magazines, objects, paint and other things. This is exactly how I think about music, so for Djesse Vol.4 I really wanted to work with him. It was a rad process! I sent him a bunch of stickers of collaborators, instruments, things I liked through my life and childhood. Then he incorporated those with a bunch of other things into this wild sculpture. In real life it is slightly bigger than my real head. That collusion of textures and layers kind of became the north star of this album. In art I like to include as many dimensions as I experience. That is hopefully how I can free and reach and help as many people as I can. 

How does sharing your knowledge through YouTube and masterclasses evolve your own skills? 

Sometimes it is hard to put into words what you already know but it is a very good practice to do it. I had no plan for my career but teaching people, I did not foresee that. I love answering questions and am deeply grateful to share my knowledge with others. There is no reason to hold back knowledge! In my lifetime on this planet I want to share, and play, and help others be more themselves. 

Final Thoughts on Jacob Colliers Djesse Universe:

Jacob Collier is one of the most unique artists on the planet right now. He is exploring all kinds of genres and styles, reaching many people and speaking his mind. His view on life, humanity and art is so inspirational and captured in every note on Djesse Vol.4. 

In the difficult times we live in it takes artists like Jacob Collier to unite people, to remind us of the joy in life and to practice what makes us happy. His goal for the last Djesse album in the series was to hit people in the soul and we can confirm that he managed to do so. 

The Djesse era was all about him experiencing the world, learning, storytelling and having a bunch of fun. During all these years his creative aperture has widened, and he learned to not take himself and his plans so seriously. Now Jacob Collier is looking forward to what’s next and open to live in the world and see what’s out there to inspire him.