Six albums into his career, Jordan Rakei is more than aware that fans have shown up to hear their favourites, keeping between-song banter to a minimum and offering his attentive audience a deep dive into the hits as well as the less well-trodden crags in his back catalogue. He ties together his eras with a well-practised five-piece, moving from lounge jazz to piano balladry and onto brief diversions into reggae, his voice as smooth as a warm coffee on a cool day; the music, no matter the genre, follows suit in a mellow daze. 

Those silky vocal stylings may neuter the drama in Rakei’s music, but they also inject a wispy calm throughout his snaking, slowly building arrangements. Whether within the attack-release structure of ‘Flowers’, the call and response of ‘Wallflower’ or the lush gospel of ‘Freedom’, there’s a quiet prodigiousness in this New Zealander’s laidback sound.

When moments of pure emotional resonance cut through, they hit with a body blow, like the strained confessional of ‘Forgive’ or the endearingly earnest ‘Hopes And Dreams’. The dim standard lamps flanking Rakei onstage were entirely apt; these are songs to be listened to late at night in a romantic half-light. 

Jordan Rakei reviewed at Usher Hall as part of Edinburgh International Festival; picture: Maxime Ragni.