- Jai Paul's label delivers two tracks from upcoming British artists.
- Few pop careers last forever, but there's life after death. Once-famous figures often retreat into the background, songwriting, producing, and nurturing younger talent. Jai Paul seemed keen to skip the limelight and get straight to the afterlife. Since releasing two singles that rocked the early '00s underground, and suffering a notorious 2013 album leak, the XL Recordings artist appears to have set his own music to one side. Instead, he's set up a label with his brother and collaborator, A.K. Paul, to "support and nurture new British music talent."
The Paul Institute shines light on a fertile London scene that has one foot in the present and the other in pop's past. One signing, Fabiana Palladino, connects the dots: she's played in the bands of Jessie Ware, SBTRKT and Deek's Laura Groves, and her 2014 debut single was co-produced by Sampha. "Shimmer," her second track for the Institute, echoes the leftfield end of big-budget '80s pop (the Institute mentions Kate Bush). The track has all the anthemic ingredients: lithe bass, glistening synth, a humid reverbed vocal, and one of those stonking gated snares near the end. Its lyrics about standing up to abusive power, meanwhile, could hardly be more current: "I can see the sign / You think I'm an easy target / I won't keep my voice down."
It's coupled with a single by Lewisham firefighter Ruthven. His last Institute release, "Evil," was Prince-style synth-funk. The grand "Hypothalamus" is more Peter Gabriel, though Ruthven's R&B vocal gives it a modern twist. The Pauls variously played on, co-wrote and supplied additional production for these songs. Their input is subtle, though they give themselves away with the odd bit of bombastic guitar. A.K. Paul delivers a wild, histrionic solo on "Hypothalamus." "Shimmer," meanwhile, gets the underwater meowl Jai Paul immortalised on "Jasmine." It takes up an epic melody in the song's coda, but fades out after a few bars. Jai remains as elusive as ever.
Tracklist01. Fabiana Palladino - Shimmer
02. Ruthven - Hypothalamus