As tends to be the case with these elusive musician types, there’s been much speculation surrounding London producer Jai Paul, since releasing the brilliantly nuanced dub and RnB inspired ‘BTSTU’, way back in 2007. He’d since signed to XL Recordings, been sampled by the likes of Beyoncé and Drake and we’ve heard nary a peep from him, except for last year’s ‘Jasmine’ and rumblings of an album, Rayners Lane, to come.
Weirdly enough, it also features a cover of Jennifer Paige’s ‘Crush’, a song that Parisian producer Butterclock, who releases her EP tomorrow, covered a couple years back. That said, immersed in reverberating bass and funk-inspired interjections, it bares no resemblance to the dark drag queen but more the crudely-constructed penchant for pastiche with the likes of Dean Blunt and Gobby. Incidentally, they too are part of that rising swell of artists sacrificing ego for mystique. Where do we go from here? Download Jai Paul’s album from his bandcamp here.**
