The name Rag ‘n’ Bone Man might sound like some dodgy side project of Pete Doherty but is actually the alter ego of Brighton’s Rory Graham who with his EP Wolves has released one of the best, if not the best, free to download recordings of the year.
Having come out of the south coast hip hop collective Rum Committee, Rag ‘n’ Bone man released the Bluestown EP at the end of 2012, a damn fine mash up of hip-hop, folk, blues and soul. Now he's taken it up to the next level with Wolves. It’s one of those EP’s that will have you scratching your head and asking why on earth is it being given away for free? It seems almost criminal. For Wolves is all killer and no filler. From the gospel and soul acapella opener of Reubens Train through to the vibey hip-hop /pop of Guilty, Rory’s voice is emotively powerful, at times passionate and gravel sharp, at other times smooth and soulful, but always full of the blues. Our difficulty for this blog post was choosing which example tracks to stream, so equally inspiring is each and every one of them. Should we choose Rain his collaboration with Mercury nominated Kate Tempest, or the softer Life In Her Yet (a touching song about his grandmother), which has a hint of the George Ezra’s about it? One thing is for sure though, once you’ve heard Wolves, you’ll be questioning any artist who charges you to buy their music, when the benchmark is set as high as this. It's versatile genre-crossing brilliance.
Listen to and download the whole of the EP using this link (here). You won’t regret it.
Rag 'n' Bone Man plays four dates across the UK this November following a number of very well received festival sets (including the likes of Latitude, Secret Garden Party and Bestival) this summer. Dates on this link (here).
Go on then, we’ll say it now – we’re expecting big things from this guy in 2015.
Rag 'n' Bone Man - Life In Her Yet
Rag 'n' Bone Man - Lay My Body Down
No comments:
Post a Comment