JLIN pre-release ‘Akoma’

Jlin’s CV is as labyrinthine as her music: steel factory worker, soundtracking a Paris fashion show, scoring for a Wayne McGregor dance piece, composing for Kronos Quartet, creating tracks to accompany visual artists Kevin Beasley and Nick Cave. Remixing for others as diverse as Max Richter and Björk, collaborate with Holly Herndon, and the late SOPHIE. More recently, there has been a residency at MassMoca Museum, and a string of brilliantly received performances.

This only covers a fraction of Jlin’s oeuvre, and doesn’t begin to touch on a discography full of highly distinctive communiqués from the cutting edge of electronica. As a result, what comes next is debatable, and always, highly anticipated.

On current evidence Akoma will not disappoint. With only several tracks to go by, you will already be aware of how expansive this new vision is. Not everyone gets to work with the aforementioned Bjork and Kronos Quartet, not on the same release. And, firstly, drop a scintillating single accompanied by Phillip Glass.

The muscular strands of early footwork influences are now entwined with a multitude of percussive brilliance. Your brain will repeatedly recalibrate as demanding configurations dovetail with throbbing bass on Auset and the menacing orchestra of Summon. A restless ingenuity is all pervasive. 

If this has whetted your appetite for more, you must hear Third Coast Percussion’s arrangement of Jlin’s Soulfood, and a recent killer remix for Grasswaxx Recordings (see Bandcamp). Then check out a list of imminent tour dates!