Since 2018, musical polymath Jacob Collier has released three volumes of his Djesse work, a sprawling album that spans two volumes. This week, he announced that the fourth and final edition, Djesse Vol. 4, is due out February 29, 2024.
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To preview what’s to come, Collier released the first single from that album, “Little Blue,” a cinematic voyage of a tune featuring vocals from Brandi Carlile.
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“‘Little Blue’ is such a gorgeous song and Jacob is a generational talent,” Carlile said in a statement. “I spend an embarrassing amount of time following him and studying his mind bendingly beautiful music. Getting to climb inside of it and be a part of his creation is a wonderful twist of fate.”
Collier added his own personal touch on social media when announcing the song: “Of all the songs I’ve ever written, this is one of the very closest to my heart. I’m so happy it’s finally yours.”
The latest volume of Djesse was recorded, as the release notes, in Collier’s own London studio as well as throughout the world as he’s toured and travels. “Five years ago, in the wake of a musical journey that had begun in solitude, I set out on an epic adventure with a big dream – a collaborative quadruple album, and by way of that – to learn music, and life, from the greatest teachers of all – my heroes,” he said in a statement.
Previous artists who have collaborated on the Djesse project include Ty Dolla $ign, T-Pain, Jessie Reyez, Daniel Caesar, Kimbra, Chris Thile, Rapsody, Tori Kelly, JoJo, Lianne La Havas, Oumou Sangare, Laura Mvula, Steve Vai, Hamid Kasri, and Take 6.
In a 2022 interview with The Guardian, Collier spoke about the restlessness that drives his impulses to keep making music and to create it in such a wide-reaching manner that seems to encompass all genres. “I don’t worry about prestige or genre; I just feel the most pressure from myself. I have so many ideas that I call it ‘creative infinity syndrome’ and the challenge is to work out a way for these ideas to be born into the world,” he said. “I have to do that in the most honest and Jacobean fashion that I can.”
Collier and Carlile recently teamed up for a live rendition of the song at the Hollywood Bowl, where they performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images
