Tom Dunne: Let me introduce you to the wonders of Jacob Lusk
Jacob Lusk of Gabriels. Pic: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
With the death of the iconic Jane Birkin this week I was tempted to shine a light on various aspects of her wonderful talents. There’s intrigue there too -she married composer John Barry (James Bond Theme) when she was only 17 - however, I thought better of it.
You see, you can’t shine a light on Jane without also illuminating Serge Gainsbourg, and I’m not sure we’re ready for that. How can you describe his genius without batting questions from anyone born after the year 2000 asking “why wasn’t he arrested?” or “why wasn’t he arrested more often?” No, better to shine a light this week on a young black man who actually was arrested, but not for any of the kind of stuff frequently levelled at Serge. No, his “crime” was a little different: He skipped his fare on the LA metro and was sentenced to three days in prison!
There’s a lot to unpack in that. He was 22, a black man from Compton, he’d skipped his fare, something I’ve seen members of my own family do. And, he was about to be further sentenced to two years’ probation, until the offer of a slot on American Idol, inspired a judge to show leniency.
You couldn’t invent it. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Jacob Lusk, the extraordinary vocal talent in Gabriels, whose new album Angels and Queens is this week’s must-buy. You may have seen him guest with Elton John at Glastonbury. He is a man whose time has, at last, arrived.
His story is even more remarkable than the above would suggest. Compton, the area in LA where he was born, is synonymous with NWA’s debut album. His dad died when he was 12. It was not a promising start.
But he sang in church choirs and by 20 was singing in a gospel group called InNate Praise, put together by Nate Dogg. It’s a measure of the calibre of all involved that he hardly stands out. By 23, however, he was ready to do just that, as American Idol welcomed “Jacob, 23, a Spa Concierge from LA.” In that audition he sings Billie Holiday’s ‘God Bless the Child’ in front of J-Lo, Steve Perry from Aerosmith, and Randy Jackson. It’s illuminating to watch their response. He does “over sing” a little, but the purity, the range, the power, and the delicacy of his performance stuns the audience and the judges alike.
But American Idol proved to be a rough experience. He experienced racial abuse and only finished fifth. He was haunted by the experience and with confidence shaken became a choir director. It was through this that he met composer Ari Balouzian and producer Ryan Hope with whom he would form Gabriels.
However, before that project bore fruit there was room for one more Hollywood moment. In 2018, utterly disillusioned with music, he took up a full-time job at a Sunglasses start up. It was not like any start up I’ve encountered.
It encouraged all employees to pursue their deepest passion. This they call your “purpose project” and they’d pay you to pursue it. Then, at a company party, Jacob had a go at the karaoke. “Everyone was in awe,” his boss remembers, “it was like this is what this man is born to do.” She, wisely, suggested to Lusk that he should make music his “purpose project” and “get your ass out of here.” Two years later, in December 2020, the first fruit of the Gabriels project hit our airwaves. The single ‘Love and Hate in a Different Time’ was described by Elton John, who knows a thing or two, as “seminal.” It’s been slow journey since. There are 20 collaborators on this record. You get the sense that they are feeling their way, burnt perhaps by the American Idol Experience. What Lusk has is special, there must be no false steps.
One highlight on the album, amongst many, is his version of Barbra Streisand’s ‘The Way We Were’, here entitled ‘We Will Remember’. It is one of Streisand’s signature songs, written for her by a team that includes Pulitzer Prize winner Marvin Hamlisch.
Interestingly, he deliberately, and against Streisand’s wishes, started it in major key to disguise the emotional swing it would take. It won two Academy Awards. It was the song of 1974. It’s part of the reason that prior to Taylor Swift, Streisand held the record for the most number one albums.
But what can I say? Move over Barbra; meet Jacob.
