- Nostalgia, fear and serenity intermingle on Jacques Greene's most elegant and bittersweet record.
- When asked about the first song he ever made in an interview with Billboard, Jacques Greene said, "I wanted it to be a cross between Timbaland and Boards Of Canada." He's accomplished that mission more than once in his subsequent releases of transformative dance music imbued with morose, synthy undertones and chopped up R&B. Consequently, the Canadian producer's departure from dance floor-oriented tracks into more intimate and contemplative soundscapes has been something to behold. During the interval since 2019's Dawn Chorus, he's been applying his veteran skillset to countless ventures, scoring short films, installation pieces, countless remixes and, of course, NFTs. His latest release, Fantasy takes a moment to peer into the mind behind this tireless output. At five tracks and 21 minutes, the EP is deeply meditiave yet energetic and restless, succinctly capturing the state of mind he was in while self-isolating in Canada. "Time became quite slippery in the past year and a half," Greene said in a statement from late last year. The isolation made him more attentive to the subtler elements of his surroundings, and this attention to detail is gorgeously reflected in the music.
"Taurus" drops you right into the thick of it, no build-up, as a blitzing breakbeat underpinned by pensive keys and yearning vocals from Leanne Macomber pull you in all directions. It's simultaneously chafing and cleansing, like an overzealous massage. Known for sampling R&B singers and blending them into chunky house or 2-step rhythms, this time Greene uses original vocals from Macomber as his muse in a manner that feels both divine and disorienting. Each time the bass line on "Taurus" reloads, the filter on it has opened up a bit more; it feels like Greene is using sound to act out some restrained urge. With its trance drums, static haze and Gran Turismo 3 sample, "Memory Screen" offers nostalgia as an antidote to Greene's uneasiness. "Softer," the repeated vocal sample urges, a mantra that attempts to tame the same feeling in "Taurus."
"This record was born out of weeks of willing a form of peace and inspiration into my surroundings," Greene said. "Sky River"'s percussion booms and judders with predatory precision, but you get the vibe that it's something spiritually enriching that's being hunted down. At times the music approaches transcendence, like on the title track, where bright, stabbing chords evoke the EP artwork's bioluminescent glow. Elsewhere, distinctly sugary synth lines and high-gravity drums on "Relay" sound like something out of a video game arcade, infectiously rhythmic. Greene doesn't attempt to channel a particular feeling but instead a hyper-awareness of all the states of mind he had to confront since his last record. The result is an exercise in restless soul-searching, striking a delicate balance between struggle and serenity as if one necessitates the other. Considering how tethered Greene is to rave music in general, Fantasy doubles as a love letter to the scene, one written at a time when it's future looked everything but certain.
Tracklist01. Taurus
02. Memory Screen + Fantasy
03. Relay
04. Sky River feat. Satomimagae
05. Leave Here