Live Review: PREMIERE: JL ‘Never Have / Night Walk’

Perth enigma Alex Hiew, aka JL has been on the scene for a while. Growing up in an environment that fostered his musical growth, he saw his childhood to be abundant with the likes of the piano, guitar and drums.

He began producing at age 21, and has since gone on to do some pretty heavy stuff. Following up from his late 2013 debut single, ‘Hold Moi’, we’re more than pleased to present the next project of JL’s. Released thanks to our good buddies over at DIE HIGH Records, JL’s just dropped a new split single, titled ‘Never Have / Night Walk’.

It’s clear throughout both songs that his palette of inspiration is quite huge. Taking elements from RnB, hip hop, soul and pop, he’s created a multi-elemental sound that is quite exasperating.

‘Never Have’ is this concoction of playful xylophones paired with big synths, and pushed together with a heavily conscious percussive beat. The feel of the track is rather different. He’s done this thing where he pushes about three or four rhythmically different ‘verses’ with bridges and hooks, and has made the transitions between them so effortless, it’s hardly noticeable. The track flows effortlessly, and the sunny nature of the sound makes this a huge hit.

‘Night Walk’ is a bit darker, with a kettle-drum-like synth taking the melody, and vocal samples accentuating the drive of the track. Going from one extreme to the next, the fanfare of synths in the hook accentuate the big-band feel of the song, but it’s all so subtle, and it’s the tones that bring forth the power of the track.

It’s interesting to see two melodically different, yet elementally similar tracks paired so perfectly together. It’s almost as if they were created as ‘Part 1’ and ‘Part 2’. JL has put together two absolutely huge tracks, and even more so, has well decidedly chosen to release the split single, and showcase two extremes of his work.

Words by Caitlin Medcalf

LISTEN TO MORE NEW MUSIC HERE

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