MUMBAI: Artist/producer and multi-instrumentalist French Kiwi Juice (FKJ) shares his latest single “A Moment Of Mystery” featuring Toro y Moi, taken from upcoming album ‘V I N C E N T’ due out 10 June.
“A Moment Of Mystery” is a gentle electronic ode to a long-term love connection, a spacious, celestial jam featuring lush atmospheric strings, languid vocals and slow-moving synths. Toro y Moi is the critically acclaimed artist behind albums including ‘What For?’ and the seminal ‘Causers Of This’, the latter which was pivotal in spearheading the chillwave movement of the 2010s. 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, FKJ adds: “I met with Chaz and Tony who plays keys in Toro y Moi for the first time at this session. The energy was real smooth and we got in the zone quickly. We couldn’t stop playing. Even if sometimes we’d try to take a break to write and structure something we would end up getting distracted by all these toys in the studio and start jamming again for another hour or two. At the end of the session we had all these demos. I took them back home and played with them. The next time I came to San Francisco, Chaz and I met again and chose a couple of them to finish, including A Moment Of Mystery, which made it to this album.”
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“Vincent, Tony and I jammed out this track at Different Fur in San Francisco when Vincent flew in to work on his record. I ended up writing about the moments of desire and the tension we feel when we’re away from loved ones. I want the listener to feel as if things are open ended with the person on the other side,” Toro Y Moi shares.
FKJ – “A Moment Of Mystery (feat. Toro y Moi)” [Official Audio]
‘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.”
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.
‘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’ Tracklisting:
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
