Danish-born artist Jakob Kupferberg has released ‘It’s (Never) Too Late for Love’, a soaring folk-pop ballad that he wrote in the summer of 2016 after experiencing a personal and political awakening in the city of Melbourne. The song is seamlessly guided by Jakob’s signature acoustic guitar tunings and his partner-in-crime Marius Ungureanu’s majestic string arrangements.
It provides a message of hope and love at a time when the world does indeed seem like “a bomb, ready to explode,” to quote the song’s lyrics. An accompanying music video was shot in stunning spots around Kent and
London over the summer of 2020, and provides an aesthetic backdrop to the darkness that underpins the mood of the song. ‘It’s (Never) Too Late for Love’ is the first taste of Jakob’s upcoming EP Sweet Surrender, a collection of graceful takes on the state of the world.
Speaking about the new single, Jakob has said: “This song was written during a period where many of the issues facing the world today — hate, bigotry, institutional racism, war, famine and environmental breakdown — were still relatively underrepresented in the global news cycle. I have always – rather cynically one might say – had a love and desire
for speaking out on emerging problems that are not a part of the public agenda. Once pertinent issues become mainstream I slowly lose interest and move on to other, forgotten stories that I think the world deserves to hear. It is this part of me that likes to approach world issues from the perspective of the prophet – not because I have any illusions of being one – but because I think one of the great strengths of art is predicting and framing an irresistible narrative about the future.
And now here we are: 2020 turned out far different than anyone of us could have ever imagined or predicted. We still have a long way to go, but in my opinion, no matter how much we f*** up this planet — it is never too late for love. I wanted this song and video to reflect one of the greatest and deepest capacities of humankind; to be resilient and able to show mercy and be actively loving in a time of great crisis.”
Jakob Kupferberg is not your standard singer-songwriter. Inspired by such dissimilar acts as Zach de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine) and the late Jeff Buckley – he combines a politically-charged fury about the world’s injustices with a resounding emotional sensitivity.The powerful combination is the soundtrack to a great personal tragedy which has somehow become Jakob’s superpower.
Deeply involved in some of the great issues of our time, Jakob sings about and champions many of the forgotten and underrepresented voices of society, matters which he is also privileged to work on in his non-musical working life. Whether supporting Pacific islanders threatened to be “flushed down the drain” (to quote another one of his songs) of climate change and rising sea levels; mental health among young people; or reducing the real carbon impact of the built environment in the United Kingdom – Jakob doesn’t just want to talk about the issues. He is an agent of change.
Stay tuned!
