In today’s age, technology has flooded our lives with content. Caught in the mire are today’s musicians who champion an art form that’s more widely distributed than any other throughout human history. And we, more often than not, overlook the music created by unfamiliar faces because it’s challenging. We’d rather have an easy listen, a known quantity to skim through while we think about something else.
Hearing is easy, but listening is difficult. Welcome to “Why We Like It”, where we rebuke the trends in favor of thoughtful analysis and underknown sounds.
“Flamingo” Ft. Jordan Rakei – Beau Diako
Listen On:
How We Found It
“Flamingo” ambled into our inbox at SubmitHub with the same grace and poise as the titular bird, sliding through on the smooth guitar licks that open it. It’s the first time we’ve had a submission from either of these artists but, being Australian, I’m well aware of Jordan Rakei’s successes repping Down Under with Ninja Tune. Beau’s choice to invite Jordan onto this jam makes it yet another of those wins.
Why We Like It
“Flamingo” walks the line between technical flex and songwriting prowess. No single element feels introduced for the sake of its own existence, and yet the virtuosic guitar licks underpinning the track are pleasantly intricate, both a solid base and a commanding display of Beau Diako’s skills.
The fact that Beau and Jordan – born a world away from one another – ended up in London’s teeming music scene mirrors the ease of the collaboration, one so perfectly paired it seems all but preordained. Their alt-R&B visions are infused with elements of jazz, a genre in which London is a global force, as well as pop, soul, and hip-hop. “Flamingo” is an exercise in genre-bending that feels right at home in itself, devoid of strict convention and dogma. It’s as enjoyable as it is individualistic, and that’s a hard balance to find. It’s well worth your time – the three minutes for the first play, and the next week to run it back!
From The Artist
“Collaboration is one of my favorite parts in making music, I’m lucky to have some very talented friends who I could bring this project together and share with. Every collaboration you learn so much and it helps you to see your own music from a new perspective.
All of the tracks were made with the intention of giving the singers the space they needed to do their thing, and I was always surprised and blown away when first hearing their voices over the music. The singers featured in the EP are all my favorite artists and singers, and I’m so honored to have made music with them all.” – Beau Diako for CentralSauce (2019)
More From The Artist
You can follow both Beau Diako and Jordan Rakei on Twitter.
Beau released Flutter – the EP from which “Flamingo” is taken – on November 8th, and though it’s early days for the budding musician, you can find a couple of guest spots and two fantastically curated playlists on his Spotify page!
Jordan’s released three records, most recently June’s Origin, and you can also find him on Loyle Carner’s recent Not Waving, But Drowning.
More to Discover
Check out this continuously updated playlist of songs Conor has added to our Discovery section! Each track or artist has been featured in our “Why We Like It” section, so be sure to check out the page here on the site.
