The Singles Jukebox

Crystals on the skyline…

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[7.44]

Natasha Genet Avery: A collab I’ve been waiting for: Syd’s light, breathy vocals perfectly complement Kaytranada’s always-nimble production.
[7]

Alfred Soto: Kaytranada’s latest reminds me of one of those excellent compilations included with British music magazines in the very early 2000s; usually I heard a post-house track that made me think, “Whoa, this is nice.” I’ll never lose my weakness for synth chimes and a modest vocalist.
[7]

Hannah Jocelyn: Syd tha Kid’s vocals, lyricism and unabashed queerness production make songs like “Just Sayin/I Tried” turn out impeccably — there’s heart as well as head. She takes the lead here, after a previous collaboration with Kaytranada on the excellent Ego Death. Together, Syd and Kaytranada avoid the dance music trope of “let’s make this female artist sound unrecognizable,” and Syd’s voice comes through as clear as ever. Kaytranada’s beat is minimalist, but fills up space effectively.
[7]

Peter Ryan: This has Kaytranada’s usual sense of economy — lean but by no means slight, bolstered by elastic bass bloops and a procession of meticulous interlocking percussion layers. Syd meshes nicely with her host’s vibe, her constant cool alternately putting across confident indifference and a hopeful belief in what-ifs. The magic of this partnership is that in spite of the obvious care given to details, it sounds entirely effortless.
[8]

Claire Biddles: Kaytranada’s production is so natural and elegant that I feel like I’ve danced to his whole record a hundred times already. “You’re the One” is perfect laid-back hedonism — not getting wrecked and throwing up, but melting into a dance floor after a bottle and a half of wine and watching as the lights lick against your fingers.
[8]

Katherine St Asaph: A little polite and detached for my tastes, but a track like this needs to be heard at night, in a heightened state, when I bet it’ll come into focus.
[7]

William John: Perhaps one climax short of true transcendence, but Syd’s slight, breathing-down-the-telephone-wire vocal suits an arrangement that manages to balance romantic tenderness and detached cool.
[7]

Will Adams: An ice sculpture of a song, both gleaming with curves and piercing with sharp edges, cold to the touch yet still inviting.
[7]

Lilly Gray: I’ve listened to this a million times, everything sweet and easy and kind. The just-right echo of the vocals and the handclap/snap beat coming soft, casual over a furry bounce; the creeping, sweet insistence of affection that you’re willing to bet on. The cadence of “I give you my heart and the rest is up to you” will not leave me because it’s said with perfect acceptance. A lot of my high scores are for songs that do yearning with complete confidence, and this, to me, is aspirational. What is it like to have chill, I wonder. 
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