The joy of being a dad has fed into my music
Rag’n’Bone Man tells ALEX GREEN why he scrapped half an album to create the most positive music he has ever released
THE last few years have been a rollercoaster for Rory Graham, better known by his stage name Rag’n’Bone Man. The 36-year-old singer-songwriter, whose baritone voice rocketed him to fame in 2016, became a father, got married, then separated.
But you wouldn’t know from his new album, the pointedly titled Life By Misadventure, an optimistic collection that sets a new course for the Brit Award winner.
“I was honestly wincing and closing my eyes while the first single was being put out,” he admits over video call from his home in Sussex.
His imposing frame, as tall as his voice is booming, fills the picture, but just visible behind him on the wall is a framed disc for his hit Giant with DJ Calvin Harris.
“Either people are going to think this is really cool or they are going to think it is totally rubbish.
“There has been a mixed bag of response to it... but I think you are commended for being a bit braver in music these days.”
Rory had good reason to worry. Instead of returning to the hip hop-leaning neo-soul of his debut, he looked to the likes of Sir Elton John, Joni Mitchell and even ELO for inspiration.
The first single in question, the jaunty All You Ever Wanted, was followed swiftly by an unlikely collaboration with pop star P!nk.
Rory even scrapped half an album’s worth of tracks after deciding he was covering familiar ground.
He says: “I was creating something that sounded nice to listen to, but I don’t know if the actual tracks would have lived up to it.”
Born in Uckfield, East Sussex, Rory started rapping over high tempo drum and bass music while still a teenager. He readily admits his school record was not perfect and once took part in a Prince’s Trust community programme tending to a vegetable patch.
Only when Rory moved to Brighton did he begin to find his feet musically, forming the rap group Rum Committee.
His switch to pop came in July 2016 when his first hit single, Human, was released on Columbia Records, peaking at number one in Austria, Belgium and Germany.
Soon he had a clutch of Brit Awards including the coveted Critics’ Choice.
His first attempt at Life By Misadventure came in 2018 after a stint on tour.
“I thought that was going to be the start of that process for this album,” he recalls.
“But after writing four or five songs at the time, I quickly realised it was going over old ground and it just felt a bit stale.
“So I thought, ‘I’m not going to write any more. I am just going to take some time to think about what I want to do and just feels natural’.”
That led him to a place where he was working solo on an acoustic guitar. “When I finished writing for this record I had loads of time to think about how it is going to sound,” he adds.
Fans, however, should not expect this to be a break-up record.
Rory married his partner of 10 years, Beth Rouy, in 2019 but they have since parted ways.
They have a son called Reuben and have been co-parenting during lockdown. “It’s not a horrible situation or anything – we still get on really well – so it’s not like a break-up record was even on the cards, to be honest,” he says.
“There is a tiny bit of that but, most of it, there is a real common theme about talking about my past and talking about now how I feel as a supposedly grown-up, responsible father. We’re all winging it, basically.
“It feels like a real timeline. It’s a real story of the past, present and future.”
Prior to lockdown Rory moved out of London to his native Sussex in order to give his son more space. The joy of being a father has also fed into his music. “Part of becoming a father is that you have to let your guard down a little bit and also just be really honest. Children are very disarming. You could feel properly s*** one day but if my boy is around I instantly feel pretty happy.
“It brings me a lot of joy so it definitely fed into my music.”
Nevertheless, fatherhood is not all fun and games.
“Having to say to my record label I can’t do Zoom calls at seven o’clock in the evening when I am meant to be putting my child to bed,” he says. “That frustration I should be doing these things, but I have to put fatherhood first.
“I don’t have that freedom anymore to do exactly what I want,” he chuckles in that booming voice. ■ Life By Misadventure is out on Columbia Records on May 7