Photo Credit: Kevin Bar

A 24-year-old with a truly captivating voice, Jacob Lee is definitely one of Queensland, Australia’s best kept secrets. In 2011, Lee was featured in season three of Australia’s The X-Factor, and he became a member of boyband Oracle East the following year. After earning a spot in will.i.am’s Top 6 in the third season of Australia’s The Voice in 2014, Lee went on to support dance-pop group Justice Crew on their Australian tour. Around this time, Lee began posting covers of mainstream artists, like John Legend and Ed Sheeran, on his YouTube channel, which has now amassed over 340,000 subscribers.

As a follow up to his earliest, independently released projects, Sine Qua Non (EP 2016) and Clarity (EP 2017), Lee unveiled his enticing debut album Philosophy in February of 2019. The inspirational collection of ten tracks is filled with lush vocals and swooning instrumentals, beginning with the rather dark “Demons,” which sees Lee touching on the inevitability of betrayal. From the therapeutic “Oceans” to the comforting “Black Sheep,” Philosophy explores personal themes of inner struggles and social anxieties. Lee even dedicates a touching song, “With You,” to his future daughter, which is now the third love song he’s ever written. The full-length closes with “Reality,” an ode that grants a voice to our beloved Mother Earth.

Having just completed his headlining tour throughout the UK and Europe, Lee is back in the studio to craft his next record, which is set for release in 2019. Ahead of this highly-anticipated release, Lee is treating us to a brand new single, “Conscience.” Lee describes this calming tune as a “deep personal journey to the center of his thoughts” and “a musical tapestry of contemplation, observation, questioning, and hope.” The atmospheric soundscape was uniquely created by way of various audio samples–including a voice-memo of yak bells recorded near Mt. Everest. As the founder and owner of Philosophical Records, Lee is quite accomplished for someone in the first half of his 20s, and you should definitely keep your eyes on him.

+ Catch Jacob Lee on his ‘Conscience’ tour this summer!