Artist/producer and multi-instrumentalist French Kiwi Juice (FKJ) shares new single “Way Out”, taken from the upcoming album “V I N C E N T”.
“Way Out” is a playful mini soundtrack in one; a dainty piano motif underscored by a skittering trap beat and serene strings, a testament to FKJs ability to blend genres seamlessly together with one foot in the new world and one in the old. FKJ is a virtuosic multi-instrumentalist and producer His songs blur jazz, soul, folk, rock, and experimental beats with an intricacy and intimacy that puts him on a par with the likes of Tom Misch, James Blake and Jacob Collier.
Speaking on the track and video – FKJ adds:
“V I N C E N T” is an album about my kiddo innocence that I want to latch on to. As the opening song “Way Out” is an invitation to leave my busy adult mind. I put these footsteps and door sounds on the intro because I was imagining this scene of an exit, running away from a too serious and anxious state of mind. The escape would end and I would land in a childish world where the kid inside of me that doesn’t care and just plays would re-emerge. A few days later I found this abandoned attraction park next to where I live. A playful world left behind and where time did his thing. A whole set that was matching this concept. So we passed through the fences with my homie and shot this video. We later shot the intro at home and matching the foleys that were put on the recording
“V I N C E N T” is FKJ’s second album and signals a new dawn, not just as a go-to producer and remixer for artists like PinkPantheress and Moses Sumney but as an artist in his own right, continuously selling out headline tours across the globe with his acclaimed ‘one-man-band’ live shows, and having a billion-plus streams across all platforms for his music.
The concept for “V I N C E N T” came about during a solo trip to Los Angeles before 2020. “I just stayed in this house totally on my own, turned my phone off, and had some time away from everything to figure out what I wanted to do.” He realized he wanted to tap into the freedom of being a teenager: “back then, I was making music strictly for playfulness, without overthinking it,” he says. “V I N C E N T’s” opening and closing songs underline the sentiment of the new album: the future-jazz of ‘Way Out’ (a playful mini soundtrack in one; a dainty piano motif underscored by a skittering trap beat and serene strings) and the lullaby-styled “Stay A Child”. “I wanted to get back some of that lost innocence of making music purely for pleasure,” he says.
Back in his home studio in the Philippines, with no wifi and an impending global lockdown, FKJ was quite literally cut off from the world, able to explore music’s endless possibilities. “Sometimes I would get into it for the whole night and go to bed when the sun came up.” Out of this freedom comes an expressionistic, touching album that’s impossible to pin down. There’s no more hiding behind a branch of leaves, as he did on the cover of his 2017 debut: “V I N C E N T” marks FKJ out as a crucial new voice. He’s redefining chillout music with his bursts of late-night jazz sax and piano, coupled with his wood-cabin whispery vocals, recalling Bon Iver’s early work, and those Santana-styled guitar flourishes.
Much of “V I N C E N T” is wilfully romantic, sometimes super sexy, and often with its head in the clouds, as on tracks like “Us”, a dreamy ode to his wife June, or “IHM”, which has a 90s hip-hop flavour slowed right down to lights-out tempo. Not entirely a solo record, ((( O )))) appears on ‘Brass Necklace’ – which has the soft power of The Internet and Stevie Wonder’s keys. It’s no wonder that lead single ‘A Moment of Mystery’, featuring Toro Y Moi, has a spacey vibe: while recording in San Francisco together, FKJ, Toro and his keyboard player Tony took some of what Tony called “holy water” – “we shared this bottle and took a bit of a trip,” laughs FKJ. The result is a gentle electronic ode to long-term love that could rival Tame Impala for melodic progress.
Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano vocal, meanwhile, laces its way through the stunning “Can’t Stop”, and there is a call back to FKJ’s dancier beginnings with “Let’s Live”, a galvanizing techno-pop number that blends piano, handclaps and soulful vocals to dazzling effect. Each of FKJ’s songs glistens, lambently, with a myriad of ideas but it never sounds overblown or too dizzying.
“V I N C E N T” is a marvel – and testament to the magic that can happen when you dig deep. “This was a challenging record,” he says. “I’m a perfectionist and it’s hard to shake that off. But once I did, and I let the music take over, I felt totally free.”
“V I N C E N T” Tracklist
1.Way Out
2.Greener ft. Santana
3. Us
4.The Mission
5. Can’t Stop ft. Little Dragon
6.IHM
7. Brass Necklace ft. ((( O )))
8. Different Masks For Different Days
9. A Moment Of Mystery ft. Toro Y Moi
10.Let’s Live
11. Once Again I Close My Eyes
12. New Life
13. Does It Exist
14. Stay A Child
FKJ Live Dates
11 Aug. – Poland – FEST Festival
12 Aug. – Hungary – Sziget Festival
19 Aug. – Netherlands – Lowlands Festival
25 Aug. – UK – All Points East
27 Aug. Italy – Todays Festival
28 Aug. – Paris, France – Rock en Seine
2 Sep. – France – Positiv Festival
Follow FKJ :
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Youtube / Spotify
