Dizraeli’s Joy Machine
Jericho Tavern, Oxford 

KNOWN for his masterly blend of rap with English folk — most notably on the album Engurland: City Shanties — Dizraeli opens today’s set with an acapella singalong of that album’s anthemic Take Me Dancing, a fitting way to start a set that is all about connection. 

After that, though, we’re off somewhere entirely new. A Love for the Rain, opening track of new LP Joy Machine (released May 31) is a shimmering triptych of spoken word, free jazz and roof-raising, butt-shaking funk. The drums kick in like a shamanic calling up of the spirits, echoed by Dizraeli’s literal calling up of “freaks to the front.” We oblige willingly. 

Dizraeli has been open about his struggles with depression. And tonight his call to “soak up the rain when it comes” reminds me of Emily Tammam’s wise words on how grief, through its contrast with beauty and joy, heightens them both.