Jordan Rakei tells us about new album ‘A Safe Place To Be Wild’: ‘I’m going to places I’ve never been before’
As Rakei announces his new album, the musician tells RS UK about recording in Abbey Road, reckoning with self and playing Ally Pally next year...
By Nick Reilly
Jordan Rakei has announced his latest album A Safe Place To Be Wild, as well as telling Rolling Stone UK about how the liberating experience of recording in the storied halls of Abbey Road shaped the identity of his seventh record.
The New Zealand/Australian musical polymath offers up a new sonic palette of sorts on his new record which arrives on October 30. The first taste arrives today with the excellent lead single ‘Enemies’ subtly leaning into moments of funk and psychedelia.
“On the last album [2024’s The Loop], I was building up all my production techniques, whether that was exploring electronics, vulnerability in lyrics and expansive orchestral stuff. All my life’s influence was tied into it,” Rakei tells Rolling Stone UK.
“When I made this record, I knew I had to change my sound. I started randomly going and trying to get into punk or techno to open up my curiosity. Those extreme territories got reined in back to a new sound, but it’s definitely like I’m pushing the boat out into places I have never really gone before.”
Part of this new exploration, Rakei explained, was his extensive experience of recording at Abbey Road after being announced as the first ever artist in residence at the legendary London studios.
“They’d tell me to come in and make whatever you want, no pressure. Like, even come in and make a reggae song. I really liked that no pressure approach. Sometimes on the day I’d be by myself making a seven minute ambient song and they were like, ‘What are you up to?’ and I’d be like, ‘Oh sorry, I’m just making an ambient song’,” he recalled.
“I felt self-conscious but they were quite brilliant in telling me they were happy I was using the studios and they really encouraged me to be truly unfiltered. Because usually when you go to big studios it’s very expensive and you have this pressure to get like an outcome at the end of the day.”
He added: “My background is as a bedroom producer, so I took that lo-fi approach to the studio and that curiosity, that sense of inhibition just created pure, unfiltered joy.”
And as for the album title, Rakei explained how it tackled his own attempts to reckon with his true self.
“I’m often a people pleaser in one way, but I also realised when I’m with my kids at breakfast I’m often quite silly, I’m dancing, I’m very quirky and I’m doing all these classic silly dad things. But I would never do that on stage in front of my friends,” he said.
“So I was like, ‘Who is that character? Why is that person able to do that when he’s feeling un-judged? It’s the same thing in my studio, when I’m making a song that’s extremely deep that I would never tell someone lyrically about, it’s very personal. I want to be like all those things more often and that’s where the name came from.”
He’ll no doubt get the chance to test that when he takes to the Alexandra Palace stage on April 24 next year for one of his biggest shows to date.
“Ally Pally’s always had a sort of festival energy and I need to match that,” he admitted. “It’s daunting, but you need a high energy or a certain level of production to match that room and that’s what’s making me excited. I want this show to feel unlike anything I’ve ever done before and make that the case for my fans too. They’ve seen my show at the Royal Albert Hall, but I really want to push this. I’m curious to do something different.”