Out now, ‘Send My Love’ is the new single from multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, and songwriter Jordan Rakei. The heartfelt track is lifted from his fourth studio album, What We Call Life, released via Ninja Tune on September 17. 

On ‘Send My Love’, Jordan sends a dispatch from London (his adopted home since 2015) back to his family in Australia:

“It’s a stand for my independence, like saying: I’m fine here, don’t worry about me, send my love back home.”

What We Call Life represents a conscious shift from Jordan to write more openly from the heart. Something that he attributes to listening to singer-songwriters like Laura Marling, Scott Matthews, Joni Mitchell, and John Martyn while writing his new record. 

Also read: Jordan Rakei announces new album, ‘What We Call Life’

Jordan shares,

“Their lyrics are usually very honest, and sometimes not even ambiguous. I was jealous of how open they were, when my stuff in the past had been more like commentary.”

Such introspective subjects are a departure from Jordan’s last album, 2019’s Origin, which raised big questions about the way that technology and social media interferes with our sense of humanity. ‘Origin’ received praise from notable platforms like The Observer, Mixmag, Complex, and GQ, earned an unexpected shout-out from Elton John, led to a collaboration with rap legend Common, and saw Jordan give a show-stopping performance for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. 

No stranger to collaboration, Jordan is closely associated with friends and collaborators like Loyle Carner (with whom he co-wrote, produced and performed on ‘Ottolenghi’ and the Jorja Smith-featuring ‘Loose Ends’), Tom Misch and Alfa Mist. He has also joined Chic’s Nile Rodgers for a writing session and recorded with Terrace Martin, producer for Kendrick and Snoop Dogg, and Herbie Hancock. 

Besides being a lyrical step forward, forthcoming album What We Call Life expands Jordan’s sonic vocabulary too. While the heart of the record will be familiar to fans of his neo-soul and hip-hop-infused work, here Jordan dives deeper into his sound world, merging electronic with acoustic, and rugged grooves with ambient atmospheres, to create something richer, more detailed, and more textural than before.

Cover photo: Joseph Bishop