Asking me if I have a favourite song is a really difficult question for me to answer. I listen to a lot of songs every day and fall in love with them quite easily if they're beautiful—emphasis on beautiful. Favourite artists, however, would be a much easier question to answer.
I've become fond of many artists over the years, and the reasons could differ, but mainly it's because of a certain aura I feel when I listen to them. Music, to me, is a portal to a whole different world—one that resonates with my soul on a whole different frequency.
I would often spend long hours in taffic when I was undergoing my industrial training about two years ago, and I always needed something to keep me sane and collected every now and then. The traffic jams would always get under my skin as they were incessant and would always keep me where I never liked: with people that made commuting with them unbearable. Music, among a few other things, was my escape.
Before leaving, I'd make sure my earphones were fully charged and were packed in my backpack, and then the moment I breathed the air outside and got on my way to work, I'd plug them in and indulge myself in the good feeling of the deep I found in the songs through my ears.
I always had artists I enjoyed and regularly listened to around on my music player, so I'd just shuffle their songs till the commute was over. But then, there was never really a playlist. I never create playlists—because I am often too lazy to do that and would rather freestyle away—and so the music player, usually Spotify, would bring random suggestions once in a while. I guess that's how I learned about Jabob Collier. Or maybe it was YouTube or something. Moving on...
When I first heard Jacob Collier, I knew there was something special about him right away. His understanding of music is so deep, and somehow I felt that, and his songs began to endear themselves to me quickly.
Next thing I knew, I was checking the guy and his songs out. And that's how I started to fall in love with him. Learning more about him made me love him even more because of his brilliant personality and his deep roots in the understanding of music. And, also, he has something I admire—maybe envy—and that's perfect pitch.
Perfect pitch is the ability to recognise and identify musical notes without any external reference. Whoever has this would have an innate sense of pitch and be able to name or reproduce any note. Basically, having it means that one would be able to pick up an instrument, if they can play it, and play alongside a singer without having a reference beforehand. I'd need to play a couple of wrong notes to play my guitar for a singer without reference. It's a really uncommon ability. So yeah, I don't have that, but that's by the way.
After quite a long time without listening to him, I found one of my favourites of his playing randomly again. This time, I said "No. We're creating a playlist." And then I went to pick up my favourites and put them in a playlist. The list is titled Chills with Jacob Collier. Link to my playlist
One of the songs on the playlist is In My Room. There aren't many lyrics to the song, but the few it has tell me about myself—about how I cherish and enjoy being within the four walls of my head. What's more fascinating about the song is the beauty of its composition and musical arrangement. It's not the usual thing to hear in songs these days. There is more depth. And that's how it usually is with most songs by Jacob.
Another one of his that I love and that I love to listen to early in the morning is, well, In the Real Early Morning. It starts softly and continues gently until something beautiful happens. He switches up the atmosphere by changing keys, but he does it in a subtle yet impactful way. After a couple of verses, he goes back. That drop in key is a completely different feeling. It goes on and on like that, all too beautifully.
I can go on and on about this guy, and we'll really never leave here soon. But, before I wrap this up, I'd like to share one more: The Sun is in Your Eyes. It's another one I love very much, mostly because of the guitar. It's a pretty short song, but it's so nice to listen to.
Jacob is one of the few artists I love and admire for the depth and brilliance of his music. I always look forward to what he'll do next—what song he'll release, or collaborations with amazing artists. Might I add that he's a crazy multi-instrumentalist who's proficient with all the instruments he plays?
I thought to share some of the artists and songs I listen to once in a while in hopes of sharing the niche that is Olujay with the world more. We need more of that—maybe, or maybe not. But here we have one of many to come. Thank you for reading!