“Replace your I for a we and why? / Replace your I for a money can’t buy / Replacе your I, bigger fish to fry”. Norwich-born but active globetrotter Oscar Jerome wrote his previous record ‘The Spoon’ while couped in Germany’s capital Berlin during the world pandemic. Understandably due to the forced isolation, its theme was about warped reflections of oneself, although rather interestingly Jerome took on different personas to reflect this mulit-angle. Now that the world has opened up once again, the hodophile gleefully travelled to Egypt’s capital Cairo and his observation of their spirtuality – searching for peace, dedication to pray and joint purpose – impacting the British musician to write another record that uses cutlery as a metaphor; The Fork.
The fork being taken from the phrase “a fork in the road”; a moment where a choice must be made and that choice will have dramatic consequences. Oscar Jerome’s fork experience was from not only from Egypt but many new friends who he had gained knowledge from and his guru teachings to us on facing the fork work because when paired with his sophisticated indie jazz it’s easy to trust.
The Fork keeps the dexterity displayed from his previous two records – polyrhyhmic drums, soft mellow guitar and vocals that seamlesly switch from soulful to rapping – but keeps it measured, enjoyable and accessible, and thus avoids clouding his creed. Even with the addition of guests; Zimbabwean/Polish poetry duo M.A MOYO (‘Borrowed Other’), London rapper Hak Baker (‘Worth Nothing’) and French-Senegalese singer-songwriter anaiis (‘Smell The Daises’), the album flows and soothes well together without unecessary disturbance. It’s a good template on how best to ultilise featured artists to serve an album.
The Fork is the first time Oscar Jerome has produced an album by himself. ‘Desert Belly’ displays Oscar Jerome’s experimental D-I-Y freedom. The album opener features a loop that begins with a striking synth punch that when resonating has a guitar performed in a oud-like style that closes the cycle, giving an otherwordly aura. It samples an audio from an Instagram video that Jerome had posted and has lyrics that sound both like a innocent nursery rhyme (“Row, row, row your boat down stream”) and as if it is the preceding line of “…The girl from Ipanema goes walking” from the famous Astrud Gilberto song. It’s about seeing the first flower grow at the beginning of spring and Jerome informing us to use that as a sign to start a new chapter.
Once we have understood that it is a sign, our guru empathically guides us into the new path on ‘Limits‘ by saying that “let your mind go for a minute / it is natural to fear the unknown” before using a knock-and-then-run on a stranger’s door as a metaphor for challenging one’s own trepidation. ‘The Butter’ – which has the foggy jangly guitar aura of Men I Trust – confronts idleness: “The water’s nice but I don’t want to swim I just want to sit right here and exist in the world you’re in”. The lyrics on ‘The Potato‘ can make one imagine bored youth strolling the streets begging for some kind of movitation: “Giving a damn or just kicking a can down the road. Telling me yes when it really ain’t it”. It has a Jamiroquai vibe before it goes into a free-form Middle Eastern frenzy.
‘Borrowed Other’ and ‘Make No Mistake‘ are interesting diversions from the rest of The Fork. The former includes Oscar Jerome’s complex drum patterns and mellow guitar but Belinda Zhawi from MA.MOYO provides poetry describing an occasionally reoccuring erotic encounter in an evocative yet creative way. “These borrowed nights, after not speaking for months, are when it feels best, sweetest, soft, like lines that cut through flesh.” The latter is an unplugged Oscar Jerome that showcases his José González acoustic guitar skill and vocal skills away from any production trickery. The song’s audio is so crystal clear and echoey that it feels like he is the room with you. Made even more powerful with the vulnerable confession: “To be lying in the dark crying If I can’t be a peaceful man, I will be who I can”. The anthesis is ‘Sex on Toast’, as it’s minimal lyrics showcase his technical production skill instead.
Title track ‘The Fork‘ is not only a beautiful piece of music that starts off with having the violinic chills of Scandi Noir theme music before it heightens with a blues jam in the bridge, it is the apex of the concept of Oscar Jerome’s new record. With an accompanying short film that shows the musician digging up a sculptured version of his head, the song alternates the part after the line “Replace your I” with his new found rules. 1) Group mentality and always asking questions to gain more knowledge (“Replace your I for a we and why”), 2) Not living life through commodities but instead through special things like love (“Replace your I for a money can’t buy”) 3) Seeing the wider picture, reflecting Jerome’s already known activist tendencies (“Replace your I, bigger fish to fry”). Point 1 is also reflected on the album’s best production ‘Smell The Daisies’. Featuring anaiis, the line: “The truth is all there just listen and speak and remember with care” is a call to seek information. You can make out the layers of atmospheric birds, guitars and beats but then as the track develops these layers entangle and overlap. It really is stunning.
The lyrical direction on how to live the Jerome life might be as vague as a fortune teller but this allow listeners to fill in their own blanks and with the incredibly strong songwriting on show, we can sit back for siesta and just appreciate this mastery. However after that, as instructed by Oscar Jerome himself, we need go out explore new worlds and new chapters in our lives.
