REVIEW: Yaeji - EP2

Raquel Dalarossa

Yaeji is the undisputed rising queen of underground electronic music in New York City and beyond. Née Kathy Lee, the Seoul- and Brooklyn-based producer, vocalist, DJ, and visual artist has practically exploded overnight, frequently headlining some of the best parties in town and enjoying glowing little features in every outlet from The Fader to The New Yorker. If, somehow, you haven’t heard of her yet, then I suggest you look her up. 

Though she’s now signed with L.A.’s Godmode, her sound sits within a more global movement: lo-fi house. Yaeji’s output shares commonalities with other up-and-comers like DJ Boring, Ross from Friends, and Mall Grab, but her cover of the latter’s “Guap” from earlier this year is a great illustration of what exactly puts Lee in a league of her own. Yaeji’s work circumvents many typical house trappings—like, say, repetitiveness to the point of making your eyes gloss over—thanks to what feels like a signature playfulness. She has a minimalist’s ear, curating the details in each of her songs to an impeccable degree, but she also knows how to keep things interesting with ornamental textures, layered vocals, and a hip-hop- and R&B-inspired touch. Altogether, it’s no wonder she’s able to capture the attention of those well outside the EDM scene. 

With EP2, her second release this year (and ever), she gives us five great tracks that add further credence to her dominance and show off the versatility in her music. Like the bowls of Japanese-style kare (curry) that she serves at many of her live shows, her music feeds the soul, offering an opportunity for both connection and introspection. EP2 opens with the sleepy “feelings change,” a short track that sets the tone for a late-night collection that takes you from pensive moments straight into the party. Though “drink i’m sippin on” found popularity as the EP’s first single, “raingurl” is no doubt the standout banger on this set, with bongo-style percussion floating around the slapping main beat. Like in all her songs, Yaeji switches seamlessly from Korean to English lyrics; she’s quickly becoming a face for Brooklyn’s Asian Americans just as much as a staple for women seeking to break into the male-saturated electronic scene. 

The second half of EP2 follows you as you make your way home at the end of the night. “after that” would fare just fine on the dance floor, but Yaeji’s whisper-quiet vocals seem designed more for your cans at home than for the club’s sound system. The track is simultaneously understated and catchy, hazy and foot-stomping. It leads nicely into closing number “passionfruit,” a nightcap that puts a warm, poignant spin on the already softly rendered Drake song. Here, the vocals are so tender that they bring new emotional weight to lyrics like “I think we should rule out commitment for now / ‘Cause we’re falling apart.” 

There’s a sad undercurrent to the EP that comes to the fore right as it ends, but this subtle sentimentality is part of what brings Yaeji’s music to life and makes EP2 a mesmerizing release. Most of all, what’s most evident here is that Yaeji’s reign is just beginning.

REVIEW: Douchka - Together

Laura Kerry

French producer Douchka is the paragon of cool. A graphic designer in Rennes, he entered the electronic dance music scene a couple years ago, playing the Red Bull Music Academy in Tokyo in 2014 and performing at The Sound You Need and the after party for the Pitchfork Music Festival that same year. Releasing his debut EP in 2015 with Nowadays Records, where he remains on the roster, he joined a rich legacy of French house music ranging from legends such as Daft Punk, Justice, and Kavinsky to a current flock of musicians rising onto the international scene.

Despite his coolness, though, Douchka’s latest EP, Together, is undeniably warm. From start to finish, the music seems to radiate and crackle with a gentle and hospitable heat—a feeling made literal with a sample of a fireplace on “Together,” a muted song that glows with the soulful voice of fellow Rennes-based alt-R&B musician Clarens. Amid movement-inducing percussion and the standard synth bloops and blips of EDM, Douchka’s album is blanketed in softness.

Like the fireplace in the opening title track, much of his sound library comes from tangible things in the world, lending a tactile quality to his breed of electronic music. In addition to found sound and acoustic piano, Douchka is also a fan of the mellotron, a synthesizer popularized in the pre-digital era of rock music, which lends a dreamy, slightly muffled effect to the synth sounds throughout Together. This electro-mechanical keyboard isn’t the only relic in the album: a sample from the Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” in “Don’t Leave” acknowledges old-fashioned soul amid its ultra-modern interpretation, and a grunted “uh,” sampled from or in the style of old-school rap fills a break in “You Know Bae.” EDM is a transient genre, its thrills meant to last as long as its audience remains on the dance floor, but Douchka props his music up on more durable materials.

Radiating alongside the warmth in the album is a sense of aesthetic confidence. Though unified by gentle washes of keys and synth, each song is fully developed and unique. The percussion in “Don’t Leave” sputters and sweeps underneath a manipulated sample from the Tempations’ sample; “Rosmeur” sets an otherworldly tone with cascading layers of mallet synths; “All Night Long” shuffles along towards seductive beat drops; “Infinity” features female singer Lucid who guides pulsing layers that add up to a pop-R&B feel; and “You Know Bae” samples from what I think is a country-tinged song by Steven Curtis Chapman, a Christian rocker, manipulating it into something that sounds like a female Jackson 5.

For both EDM enthusiasts and those more inclined towards other genres, Together offers itself up clearly and cozily. Whether accompanying the pulse of a club or the quiet of a sunny afternoon bedroom, Douchka’s music radiates from the speakers and spills into the space, investing it with a warm, bright glow.