Virtual Mentors: Arooj Aftab's Favourite Albums | Page 10 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

9. Jeff BuckleyGrace

This is an album that I was listening to, again, in my O levels, in my sort of angsty teen life. The songwriting is so great, his voice is so great. The amount of pain and beauty that emanates from his delivery and his being and the writing. It’s like one of those forever masterpieces out there. I was listening to Leonard Cohen a lot too, but when I heard Jeff Buckley’s ‘Hallelujah’ it resonated with me more, he kind of softens it around the corners a little bit. And then I covered ‘Hallelujah’, and that cover went kind of viral. So that was the first thing I ever put out, really. And I didn’t even really put it out, I emailed it to a friend who emailed it to a friend and then it became like an email chain. And then it was being played on the radio, and I was getting phone calls about it. So I think that connection to Jeff Buckley, and my very early moment in my career is there through this record as well.

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Mark Radcliffe, Let’s Eat Grandma, Charlotte Church, Morrissey
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