Live Review: Jennifer Loveless delivers sonic diversity and energetic fun on 'Water' EP

Canadian born and Naarm/Melbourne based Jennifer Loveless has continued her hot streak of stellar original releases with a brand new EP out this month titled Water. Released on the ever-impressive Butter Sessions label, helmed by Sleep D, Loveless delivers five electrifying tracks which once again showcase not just how refined and meticulous her production chops are, but the broad versatility of her skillset as well as the variety of her influences.

Water comes one year on from her debut release, Hard/Soft, on Andy Garvey's Pure Space, and shows a distinctly different side of the producer's musicality. It's energetic, thumping and so much fun to listen to, harking back to the days of packed dancefloors which the country is steadily returning to. Refusing to be pigeonholed as one thing, she said she wanted to create a record which served as a "hard contrast" to the softer, more ambient and atmospheric sounds in Hard/Soft, and said that Water is her response to those who might have seen her as an ambient producer after her debut.

Of the release and the inspirations behind it, Loveless said, "When writing this EP, I was thinking about water and I was thinking about sweat. I was thinking about festival season and kick-ons galore. I was thinking about the crew out west and how the sun looks going down over the water there in summer. I felt really free then - a little buzzed, a little sideways - but free. I felt good then, and have a gracious amount of times since. Frivolous and free - like water, water, water."

What's been described as a "hyper-charged cetacean maelstrom of electronic music," Water is a wild ride from start to finish. It features a relentless push across all five tracks, a sense of urgency in the underlying liberation embedded in each tracks, and a euphoric feeling of freedom interwoven throughout. From the thumping drum rhythm of opening track 'Out/Under' to the anthemic bliss of 'ECC' and the tenacious 'Syzygy (Scissor Me)', the 10-minute highlight of the undeniable groove on 'Backroll Buddy' and the final pop-flecked rush of 'B L U YOU', Water maintains an warm intensity as it moves effortlessly through so many different spaces.

Employing a wealth of field recordings and samples including weddell seals, humpback whales, pacific walruses and water itself as well as the sound bed of audio Jenn recorded at parties which is featured on 'Backroll Buddy', the organic touch these samples bring to the record also showcases the drive Jenn has to always push her music further and further.

Simultaneously providing us with an almighty soundtrack for a kick ons as it does proving Jennifer Loveless is far from a one-trick pony, she proves she is just at home with restrained electronic ambience as she is on a bold, full throttle dance record.

Water is out now on Butter Sessions. Buy here.

Words by Emma Jones

Image: Supplied

LISTEN TO NEW MUSIC HERE

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