Jacob Collier‘s latest single, “All I Need,” dropped last week, and it is a doozy. Featuring Mahalia Music and Ty Dolla $ign, the track trends more toward mainstream pop than most of his other work, while still maintaining the incredible harmonic and rhythmic sophistication that are trademarks of this UK native’s style.
The key changes up a quarter tone at 2:14 before winding its way back down to the original key from 3:15-3:17.
Tag: 2020s
History Is Made at Night (from “Smash”)
With the announcement yesterday that the cast of the 2011 NBC drama, Smash, will reunite on May 20 to present a stream of the one-night-only 2015 Broadway concert of the musical within the show, today we feature a song from the show, “History is Made At Night,” written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and featuring Will Chase and Megan Hilty. Key change at 3:05.
Berklee and Boston Conservatory Ensembles | What the World Needs Now
We’ve featured this 1965 Bacharach/David tune before, but this 2020 cover, performed and produced by students at Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, really speaks to our current moment. It’s certainly one of the most successful virtual choir/orchestra endeavors I have seen. Key change at 2:00.
Grant Stott | Save Lives
Grant Stott is a Scottish broadcaster who went viral at the 2011 Radio Forth Awards with “That’s Fife,” a parody of Frank Sinatra‘s “That’s Life” and a tribute to the county of Fife in Scotland. Here, he utilizes the same idea with a different message, and even throws in a key change at 2:21.
Camden Voices | True Colors
One of the bright spots during these long days have been the many virtual choir videos being produced from all corners of the globe. Here, Camden Voices covers Cyndi Lauper‘s classic “True Colors,” key change at 2:16.
Theme from “Steven Universe Future”
Steven Universe Future was an American animated series which aired on Cartoon Network for only a few months, wrapping up in March 2020. It revisited the longer-running series Steven Universe and a movie by the same name.
Starting with a brief a capella intro in Eb major, there’s an upward sweep to E major at 0:05; the theme remains in E major for all of its remaining 25 seconds!
Jacob Collier | Hallelujah
I have posted Jacob Collier singing a different arrangement of this same song here before, but I came across this rendition today, filmed a few days ago, and it is so transcendent that I have to share it again. As Collier says before he begins, “It starts in C Major, but we’ll see where it ends up,” making it particularly fitting for this page.
Charles Cornell | Imagine
As a response to the COVID-19 crisis, actress Gal Godot recently convened a group of celebrities to cover John Lennon’s “Imagine.” The vocals, while heartfelt, are a cappella and all over the place in terms of key. Multi-instrumentalist Charles Cornell has devised an accompaniment which knocks some of the harsh edges off of the, um, transitions.
Many thanks to MotD contributor Alex Mosher for this submission!
UPDATE: a few days later, the YouTuber Charles Cornell uploaded this update, explaining how he approached smoothing out the modulations:
Jacob Collier | Moon River
Jacob Collier‘s newest release is an arrangement of “Moon River,” written by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer in 1960 — it will blow your mind. Starting in Bb, it modulates to Db at 3:48, then to D at 4:34. After a long, winding transition, we end up in Eb at 5:55, and go in many different directions from there before ultimately landing on a…C major chord. 🤯 There is no one like this guy, and this might be his most epic masterpiece yet.
UPDATE | April 12, 2020:
This update isn’t strictly a modulation, but in this 90-minute video Collier breaks down, in granular detail, how he put together the arrangement. It is staggering, and includes a fascinating discussion of harmony.
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