- Ah, the internet. Jacques Greene has debut releases lined up for Glaswegian label LuckyMe as well as London label Night Slugs, yet he's based in Montreal. But just a few minutes spent with his ecstatic, neon-streaked house sound is enough to place him comfortably in the company of these overlapping collectives.
Greene's sound is reasonably straightforward and feels more rooted in house than the grime or bassline influences so cherished by his UK counterparts. His songs are propelled forward by steam-powered beats, where the kicks determinedly cut through the earth underneath lightly syncopated percussion. You can hear it in the blocky thump of "Good Morning"—plain, untreated piano cooly slips and slides on top of the chunky groove. His naked love for R&B makes up the other half of his sound, one that shines through more obviously than any of his peers, excepting perhaps the dirty south dubstep of Girl Unit. The influence is most explicitly explored in the spiritual twins of "The Look" and "Tell Me," both of which feature prominent, pitched-up vocal samples.
"The Look" hijacks a barebones ascent of skittering drums and synthetic polyester bass, gleefully spinning its cut-up vocal into improvised permutations and configurations. Breaking down and building up at will, it gradually releases tension in concentrated streams of synth which overwhelm without distracting histrionics. Its more subdued cousin "Tell Me" forgoes the bumpy ride for a more linear progression, climaxing in a flurry of twinkling arpeggios and topsy-turvy melodies.
トラックリストA1 The Look
A2 Good Morning
B1 Holdin On
B2 Tell Me