Daily Dose: ‘Roses’ by Jordan Raf

Jordan Raf is from Los Angeles, and has a voice that is completely incongruous with his guitar playing. One is that of a 90s R & B crooner, the other is from a lazy psychedelic record, and the result is oddly fascinating to listen to. There’s also a wobbly keys breakdown and then a widdly guitar solo (my favourite bit) getting involved towards the end, as if the sense of confusing wonder wasn’t sufficient. To be honest, I’m not really sure what’s going on here, but I certainly don’t dislike it; it still sounds oddly pleasant, and he has lovely voice and sense of space. Add in the somewhat spooky backing vocals/keys (This seems to be something of a Raf staple), and you get something that actually sounds pretty bizarre while still being bizarrely pretty. I don’t see myself listening to this one religiously, but I’ve not heard much that is precisely like it, and I certainly respect it for that. It is taken from his upcoming debut Double Negative, which is apparently coming out sometime this spring, so if you like this sort of strangeness, keep an eye out for that. May not be for everyone this, due to its spaced nature, but full marks for being different.