Review | FKJ’s ‘Ylang Ylang’

FKJ (French Kiwi Juice, a k a Vincent Fenton) is a multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and producer based in Paris, France. His new Ylang Ylang EP immediately displays a departure from his previous musical style; FKJ has shed the high energy, fast tempo, and energetic beats characteristic of his sound in favor of somber music that is soft and delicate. The EP reads as a series of vignettes, in which crystal-clear snapshots of moments throughout Fenton’s life become visible. The track “Risk” is a powerful collaboration between the fluid, amorphous soundscape that FKJ has created and Dreamville Records resident hard-hitter Bas. The rapper’s pointed, punctual flow leads you back and forth across the sonic ocean while he delivers a story about taking a leap of faith into a relationship that didn’t seem to work out. “Risk” flows into the title track, “Ylang Ylang,” which, despite having no lyrics, paints the course of the relationship in a French-cinema-style piano melody. Ylang Ylang concludes with “10 Years Ago,” on which Fenton contemplates the power of time to change his circumstances but the power of his feelings to remain the same.