/Jakob Deist Oelofse: As Bold As The World (EP)

Jakob Deist Oelofse: As Bold As The World (EP)

jakobAn interesting name, and a CD with a picture of an owl on it were the first things that attracted my attention when it came to Jakob Deist Oelofse, a South African born singer-songwriter, who now calls Essex his home. His recent live set at Fleece Fest was very enjoyable to watch, and his debut EP ‘As Bold As The World’ didn’t disappoint either. The four track EP combines elements of acoustic and indie with a blues/soul vocal to create slightly dreamlike, atmospheric melodies, raw emotion, and reflective lyrics. There’s a few references to the weather, stars, the sea etc in his lyrical stories as well, which add a lot of imagery to the songs.

First track Paris is mainly a guitar number, while the addition of strings keeps the interest going on the second number ‘Broken Smile’, which also has (for me anyway) the surprising twist of a female vocal towards the end. Both voices blend together well, and there’s a quite sweet ending to the song as well. It’s at this point that I start to see the possibilities for Jakobs music, which would work well in film scores. ‘As Bold As The World’ sees a return to simplicity, and it’s here that the majority of the swirling, soaring weather references come into play, with some good hooks in the chorus as well. The CD ends with ‘Goodbye City Lights’ a piece where the guitar is joined by keys and drums, and an overall song that is full of feeling. Jakob sings ‘each day is a struggle’, and it’s like you’re living it too. Yes this is an artist with emotion/soul, a voice not too dissimilar to artists that he covers like Damien Rice, and Daniel Merriweather, and this is one reviewer that is looking forward to an encore!

To find out more, or to buy the CD ‘As Bold As The World’ visit http://www.myspace.com/jakobdeistoelofsemusic