Rags to riches: Rory Graham is set for a big year
T
he last time Music Week saw Rory Graham in the flesh, he was enjoying a cigarette break amidst the puddles and scaffolding round the back of London’s O2 Arena at the BRITs, away from the hustle and bustle of the show inside. Almost exactly two years later, we meet again, and the 36-year-old singer and songwriter better known as Rag’N’Bone Man has a roll-up between two fingers of his right hand once more. His beard and tattoos are present and correct too, but it’s no exaggeration to say that everything else has changed beyond all recognition. His songs, his sound and his outlook are transformed.
Graham stands on the precipice of one of the biggest album release campaigns of 2021. This is his first major interview about Life By Misadventure, due on April 23 via Columbia, and he’s going about it in typically laid-back style. “Alright mate,” he begins, setting his mug on the table and lighting up. So, we ask, how are you feeling about the new album? “This record is vastly different from what I’ve done before, but I’m pretty happy about that,” he says. “I seem to be quite good at digging into my past and I don’t have a problem with that. I’m not hiding in any way on these songs, everything is on a plate.” Graham is at home in the Sussex countryside, his garden fading into the greenery on the horizon through the large window behind him. Birdsong is audible in the background, and he couldn’t have planned this part of our Zoom meeting any better. The same gentle tweet-tweet can be heard at the beginning of Fireflies, the opening track on Life By Misadventure and the first taste of what Graham has cooked up to follow the gargantuan success of his debut album, Human. The record has sold 1,251,691 copies, according to the Official Charts Company, while its maker
“I realised I can be really honest and not feel embarrassed about that. I’m a grown man, I shouldn’t feel I have to hide” RAG’N’BONE MAN
26 | Music Week
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