Rag'n'Bone Man
Human

Rag’n’bone Man, an unusually inventive stage name, evokes the streets and the affections of Rory Graham, the 34-year-old Englishman, voice of “Human”, the single that also titled his debut album.

Rory is the perfect image of the so-called Gentle Giant, with a body covered in tattoos up to his fingertips, where he has tattooed “SOUL” and “FUNK”.

Rory grew up on a diet of blues and hip hop: the former belongs to the culture of the '60s/'70s, the latter is the offspring of today's culture. Two seemingly very distant genres but that coexist perfectly in the sound created by the young Rag’n’bone Man, where his voice finds its roots in the great voices of blues (such as B.B. King and Muddy Waters, a great inspiration for the young Englishman) and the music in the modern sound of hip hop, while still maintaining the Soul component.

“Human” was produced by Columbia Records and climbed to the top of the charts in a short time.

The title track is the track that gives the album its title and also the first single extracted from it. “Human” presses on right from the start with a bass line that gets into your blood and Rory’s voice that takes you on a crescendo until it explodes into a chorus with gospel sounds in some ways.

The album continues with “Innocent Man”, a pop/soul transition that leads us to the second track of the album, “Skin”, a piece with a chorus featuring a gospel choir and a melody that makes it very radio-friendly and of great emotional impact.

We enter perhaps the darkest moment of the album, “Bitter End” a track with darker atmospheres but in which Rag’n’bone Man gives a remarkable vocal performance. The mood changes and in the next track, we enter a positive and rhythmic aura that winks at modern R&B productions (“Be The Man”), then move on to one of the best vocal interpretations of the album “Love You Any Less”. A piece sung with soul and that moves from the first notes, an essential base without even a hint of drums, accompanies Graham's voice, highlighting his skills and versatility.

The next two songs, “Odetta” and “Grace”, take us back to a more than positive atmosphere. “Grace” in particular, with a driving piano riff in the chorus manages to convey a sense of positivity that makes you forget for a few minutes the negative things that happened during the day.

In the last part of the album, you can hear our artist’s more hip hop, or rather, urban influences.

In “Ego”, jazz and hip hop merge perfectly, to the extent that they flawlessly fit a rap part in the second half of the track.

“Arrow” instead starts off a bit quietly, with the intro recorded in stereo, then captures the listener in the, perhaps a bit sparse, but nevertheless catchy chorus.

We can say that the album concludes peacefully; “As You Are”, with a hip hop rhythm accompanied by the fantastic sound of an electric piano and a chorus that almost seeks to reassure, concludes the journey into Rory’s world positively. In the last track, the young Englishman took a risk, and that is more than honorable: the track that closes the album is an a cappella piece (“Die Easy”), where Rory further confirms his vocal prowess.

“Human” is an album to listen to all at once, in which Rag’n’Bone Man takes us to discover his world made of soul, hip hop, jazz, and emotions... but above all a record sung with soul (“SOUL”) with a groove that captivates you from the first to the last song (like the “FUNK”)