“One of the things I’ve wanted to really focus on, and zone into, is the limitation of a single instrument”: Using his signature ‘DAEAD’ tuning, Jacob Collier recorded a 5-string acoustic guitar album in just four days

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"I had to work so fast that I couldn’t second-guess anything - I just had to roll with and trust the process," he says

Jacob Collier
(Image credit: Theo Batterham)

Jacob Collier is known for his intricate productions - he once said that the 316 tracks he used in the Logic Pro session for his acapella cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water was “quite chill by my standards” - but for his latest album, he’s stripped things back and is focusing on just a single instrument: the acoustic guitar.

Jacob being Jacob, though, there are a couple of twists.

The Light For Days will be released on 10 October and features six original Collier compositions alongside covers of songs by the likes of James Taylor, John Martyn, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

We’re told that, after the completion of his four-album Djesse project in 2024, Collier wasn’t necessarily thinking about making a new record, but on a rare return to his London home studio, he was drawn to his 5- and 10-string signature Taylor acoustics in a way that he hadn’t been before.

So, using his trademark ‘DAEAD’ tuning, he set about recording and producing an album in a matter of days.

“Since completing the Djesse album series, my imagination has been brimming with all sorts of ideas of things I’d like to do and create,” says Collier. “One of the things I’ve wanted to really focus on, and zone into, is the limitation of a single instrument.

“The acoustic guitar sound world has been a foundational aspect of my music universe for as long as I can remember, and so I set myself the challenge of making a full-length album, using almost entirely the five-stringed guitar, in just four days.

“As a result I had to work so fast that I couldn’t second-guess anything - I just had to roll with and trust the process. The results are warm, scrappy, imperfect, but very close to my heart.”

Having previously previewed the album with a cover of Brian Wilson’s Keep An Eye On Summer, Collier has now released an original track from the record, called I Know (A Little).

You can check it out below (the video goes live at 5pm BST on 12 September) and pre-orders for The Light For Days are now open.

Jacob Collier - I Know (A Little) [Official Video] - YouTube Jacob Collier - I Know (A Little) [Official Video] - YouTube
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Ben Rogerson
Ben Rogerson
Deputy Editor

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it. 

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