French Kiwi Juice: Take Off

By Isaac Miranda • 05 Aug 2014 in Review

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Magnifique
The French deep disco maestro couldn’t stop raving about what he had in store for the rest of the year when we talked to him a few issues back, and now we completely understand why. The first track off Take Off, ‘Waiting’, dropped early last month sporting a sound slightly more straight-edge compared to his previous releases. Even so, the soulful tune maintains FKJ’s signature polish on top of Madelyn Grant’s luscious pipes.

The chill vibe carries through to the next couple of songs – the soundtrack to our laidback nights for the rest of the year. With a groovy mix of funkadelic bass and smooth synths complementing Damon Trueitt and Jordan Rakei, it felt like the ‘90s hit us with a train (think Boyz II Men with a Parisian touch) – not that it’s a bad thing. Really. Props to FKJ for piecing together love songs with indubitably talented vocalists that made them work, without making them sound overtly sexual and cheesy.

The four-track release concludes with ‘Open the Door’, which we were originally introduced to on a mix that FKJ put together for Eton Messy – where JUICE first heard his work. A beast of a tune, it encapsulates everything that we’ve seen FKJ dipped his fingers into, from funky rhythm work to glitch sampling, bombastic basslines, and an improvised jazzy-as-f*ck outro on a beautiful Rhodes. This is the French Kiwi Juice sound. And, what a beautiful sound at that.

LISTEN TO: ‘Open the Door’
IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU’LL DIG: JNL
RATING: 3.5/5