Watching FKJ build a song is like watching him play a game of musical tetris. One second he’s extracting a raucous beat from a drum set – the next he’s clambering over instruments to get to the mic before the beat begins.
The process might make you want to tape your eyes open. It’s not Live Production 101, and FKJ (short for French Kiwi Juice, Vincent Fenton’s stage name) isn’t there to explain his genius. The French producer and multi-instrumentalist is perhaps best known for his help on Masego’s sultry, upbeat “Tadow,” but there are only vestiges of that energy left here. It’s new jazz: a synthetic spectacle that is a feast for the ears and the eyes.
It feels – and Fenton confirms this – that he could spend all day tinkering in his studio. There’s an ease to his movements as he grabs his guitar adding wah-wah sounds to his bassline on “IHM,” and something very relatable about how even the cameraman struggles to keep up with his movements, sending Fenton in and out of focus.
Sometimes he winces (of effort or ecstasy, who knows) when he’s just plucking a string. And you might be similarly moved. This has all the thrills of ASMR with all the emotive joy of a warehouse electronic party. Maybe you’ll even feel what I did when the music ended – a silence so big, so full, you’ll want to tear down the screen and dance through the jungle with it.
LIST OF SETTINGS
- “New life”
- “TUI”
- “Improvised Jam Sesh”
- “HMI”
- “Ylang ylang”
THE MUSICIANS
- FKJ: vocals, electronics, guitar, keyboards
CREDITS
- Video: Terence Ver Angsioco
- Audio: FKJ
SMALL OFFICE TEAM
- Producer: Abby O’Neill
- Video editor: Joshua Bryant
- Audio mastering: Josh Rogosin
- Small production team: Bob Boilen, Bobby Carter, Kara Frame, Michael Zamora, Maia Stern, Ashley Pointer
- Vice President, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
- Senior Vice President, Programming: Anya Grundmann
