Album Review: Rag'n'Bone Man - Life By Misadventure

Rory Graham has been honing his craft for the last 15 years, starting as a rapper in his native Uckfield before delivering jawdropping modern blues vocals as an open mic veteran in Brighton. Having been propelled to mainstream fame in 2016 with the release of ‘Human’, his debut album of the same name arrived the following year, cementing Rag‘n’Bone Man’s status as The Next Big Thing. Four years, numerous star-studded collaborations and one Brit Rising Star Award later, Graham is finally unleashing his sophomore album.

While Life By Misadventure encompasses Rag‘n’Bone Man’s trademark raspy, roots-infused style of modern soul, the album’s pace is noticeably unhurried. Starting with soft introductory track ‘Fireflies’ and poignant ballad ‘Breath in Me’, Life By Misadventure takes its time to grab the listeners’ full attention. Graham’s showstopping voice is platformed with laidback, simple guitar melodies; incorporating country rock, R&B and pop with jazz elements. Mike Elizondo’s Nashville production purposefully allows the LP to encompass a live feel, highlighting Graham’s completely unique, raw tone.

A collaboration with P!NK on ‘Anywhere Away from Here’ weakly hopes to appeal to a US audience, but big, belting choruses are the true staple of the project. ‘Crossfire’ and lead single ‘All You Ever Wanted’ are the most promising tracks, but whether the album will span hits as successful as ‘Human’ remains doubtful. It seems Graham felt the need to maintain a safety net for the work, which has little experimentation. Either way, Rag‘n’Bone Man has an unmatched vintage-meets-modern vocal talent.

6/10

Listen to Life By Misadventure below: