- Using facial prosthetics, androgynous vocals and leftfield electronics to make her point, Berlin-based Jam (formerly Janine) Rostron is on a mission to question traditional notions of gender and sexuality. You may not completely agree with everything she has to say, and as titles like "Misogyny Drop Dead" and "Beyond Binary Binds" suggest, her arguments are advanced to the level of catchy, critical theory sloganeering. But she is nonetheless an exhilarating presence, both musically and politically.
All Love's Legal is more direct and pop-oriented than Planningtorock's last album, W. It has hooks galore, but embedded in brilliantly strange music. A kind of lo-fi, European raver's take on US R&B, "Misogyny Drop Dead" (one of RA's top 50 tracks of 2013) is impossible to categorise. The pleasantly pummelling techno of "Public Love," whose quirky, perky demeanour recalls trombone-toting duo Die Vogel, is just a simple remix away from being a floor-ready bomb.
Like The Knife, with whom she has collaborated, Rostron loves '80s Yamaha synths—their reedy keys, synthetic pianos and parps of fake brass—and she squeezes a lot of tonal variety from that sound palette. With its pizzicato strings, courtly precision and breathless ruminations on "liquid sexuality," "Human Drama" recalls Patrick Wolf's melodramatic pop. Meanwhile, "Patriarchy Over & Out" and "Let's Talk About Gender, Baby" fuse elements of vintage disco, '80s synth-pop and ZE Records' eclecticism to create tracks that, though relatively basic in terms of production, are cleverly constructed and pack a surprising emotional punch. This is protest music that flashes with anger, but—look at that title again—it is also an album about love.
Tracklist01. Welcome
02. All Love's Legal
03. Human Drama
04. Answer Land
05. Let’s Talk About Gender Baby
06. Words Are Glass
07. Misogyny Drop Dead
08. Beyond Binary Binds
09. Steps
10. Public Love
11. Purple Love
12. Patriarchy Over & Out