With a background as both an accomplished jazz singer and vocal teacher, Bondi-based vocalist Darren Percival first apparently conceived the beginnings of his Mr. Percival project whilst studying in NYC during 2004 under the mentorship of none other than nineties accapella crossover star Bobby McFerrin. Inspired by the experience, Percival went on to develop his own Out Of The Loop live show based around him using looping and sampling effects to build a dense mesh of backing harmonies and vocal beatboxing around his own dextrous solo performances. Having now performed this show to all sorts of audiences from all over the world, this debut self-produced album represents Percival’s first attempt at capturing his rich live vocal soundscapes and beatboxed grooves on disc.
From almost the very outset, the influence of Percival’s time studying under McFerrin is clearly apparent, most particularly perhaps in the laidback accapella gospel soul-pop of moments such as the sunny “Things That I Pray.’ There’s certainly a hint of Jamie Lidell’s recent soulman antics in the skat breakdown that takes a fantastic accapella reinterpretation of James Taylor’s eco-minded “Traffic Jam’ to a spectacular close, but in many senses, it’s the uniquely Australian cultural reference points here that really lend Out Of The Loop its own individual flavour. Opening track “Yungarup Dreaming’ sees Percival’s clear harmonies rising out of mysterious fog-like background vocal drones like an eagle soaring over the Great Gibber Plain’ shifting landscapes, while the reggae-tinged “We Live On An Island’ drops interspersed fragments of a Dreamtime story in between its beatboxed basslines and hi-hats, in what’s easily one of this album’s most effective moments.
Elsewhere, a deftly delivered cover of D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar’ clearly shows where Percival’s muse is at, though notably he still manages to stamp plenty of his own individual signature onto proceedings. While many similar recent accapella / beatboxing-based albums have in part been stymied by descents into acrobatic displays of vocal technical prowess, Out Of The Loop is marked by Percival’s acute sense of restraint, the focus throughout falling distinctly upon the strength of the song itself, rather than the trickery that surrounds it. A strong debut release indeed – on the strength of this, Mr Percival’s current tour definitely sounds like something worth checking out.
Chris Downton
