Leading with emotional delicacy, openness and intimacy, singer and artist jason offers up a two-track EP of originals that showcase his thoughtful and dreamlike way with sound design and songwriting.
Beginning with a mildly shoegaze-inspired, reverb-kissed and gentle God Only Knows, the project introduces a colourful, multi-layered and melodic backdrop, and a sort of freely meandering, almost emo-style vocal lead. The lyrics dig deep into personal struggle and uncertainty, directly addressing a significant other, yet keeping the details vague enough for the listener to relate to and make their own.
Production-wise there’s a slightly warped finish to the soundscape, introducing a kind of electro-pop, home-made contemporary emo-rap feel, though nothing ever hits too intensely in light of the latter.
The song is incredibly personal, pouring through step by step – almost like a diary entry. The voice is electronically effected, but not so much so that you lose sight of the natural tone, rasp and emotion in the delivery.
Gleam follows and the guitar sound is a little brighter, cleaner perhaps – increasingly enjoyable. The beat injects a bit more energy on top of this. Soon enough a vocal lead presents an additive little melody and rhythm, simple yet satisfying, and while the musical mood is again joyful and optimistic, the lyrics lean back and forth between regret and hope; the past and the future, ultimately balancing somewhere in limbo between mistakes and possibilities.
The electro-pop brightness shines all the more so here, the use of instrumental breaks hits with impact, and the vocal helps add a real sense of structure – as opposed to the freestyle outpouring of the former song. In both cases, jason has a sound of his own – the writing, the vocal tone, the composition and instrumental choices. It’s a short yet engaging and easy to escape into project. Hopefully there’s more to come.
Check out jason via Instagram.
