Musical Distortion
Los Angeles-based duo J*Davey, consisting of singer Jack Davey and producer Brook D’Leau, offer a smorgasbord of sounds on their double album, The Beauty in Distortion/The Land of the Lost EP. Running the spectrum of electronica to hip-hop and everything in between, the longtime high school friends have made a solid album for those with an open mind to musical marriages.
“Divisions of Joy” properly begins Beauty by possibly referencing their own lack of genre categorization. The mash-up of D’Leau’s electronic hip-hop is then centrally showcased on “Everybody Touch” and the too-long “Enterception,” the former an orgy of musical beats that begins J*Davey’s sexual awakening. Davey seduces a sugar daddy on “Mr. Mister,” while “No More” is basically a sequel to Janet Jackson’s “Anytime, Anyplace.” Of the two albums, Beauty is less commercially appealing and will take a keen ear to hear the messages beyond the otherworldly keyboard beats and the bass-heavy sounds, but a repeat play will treat the listener to an innovative album.
Lost takes a different strategy and separates the harder hip-hop tracks, which were missing from the first album, from the electronica songs. Of the hip-hop tracks, “Rock the Dancehall” is the choice cut as it effortlessly mixes lounge with reggae, an oxymoron of styles that works with help from Kardinall Offishall. “Thick” teases its listeners with a brief 10-second production switch at the end of its intermission and transitions the EP to its more electronica side that focuses on love, including the mesmerizing “Just Because” that echoes Davey’s voice and the album-ending “Slooow” with its light keyboard blips. While “LaLaland” would have been a more appropriate introduction to this EP, with its tale of plastic humans and palm trees in Los Angeles, the overall album showcases just how creative J*Davey is without putting them in a box.
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