WCMS performing Raye's 21st Century Blues

Wadham College Music Society are taking over the Schwarzman Centre on Thursday 26 November, with a full reinterpretation of Raye's My 21st Century Blues. It's a big album to take on — a sprawling, jazz-inflected record that runs over an hour and a half — and the society is working its way through it live, rather than just picking out a few favourites. If you've spent the last year with it on repeat, you'll know the sort of ground it covers: the brassy, old-school soul of 'Ice Cream', the slow-burn tension of 'Worth It', and the more stripped-back, vulnerable moments that sit in between. Hearing that translated to a live ensemble in the middle of Oxford is a different thing entirely.

It's also a student-led project, which changes the energy. The whole thing is put together by the music society at Wadham College, so the people on stage are the ones who've spent the term rehearsing it. There's something about that kind of ensemble — a group of friends and college mates working their way through a record they clearly love — that makes for a different night than a professional tour. It's less about a polished product and more about the act of taking a studio album apart and putting it back together by hand.

The venue is the Sohmen Concert Hall within the Schwarzman Centre, which is a proper listening room. It's a space built for music, so it's a good fit for a show that leans on the finer details of the arrangements rather than just the big hooks. If you're coming for the songs, you'll be able to hear them properly.

The concert starts at 20:00 on Thursday 26 November. It's a mid-week date, so keep that in mind if you're planning your evening around it. You can find more details and tickets over at the Schwarzman Centre's music listings.