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The sudden release might have caught us off guard, but no one was that surprised given Jai Paul’s track record and the veil of mystery the surrounds him. In the days that follow there were rumours that the tracks weren’t really his, then he tweeted that he didn’t upload them, that it isn't his debut album and that he’d had his laptop stolen.
Whatever the truth is behind these tracks origins, for the most part they're quite good.
The gasping, crunchy beats of ‘BTSTU’ flutter throughout the collection of tracks. Paul’s knack for warm, pulsating basslines married with sweet, soulful vocals is what binds the 16 songs together.
The heavy use of weird, quirky samples gives the tracks a playful feel, adding some personality to the man about whom so little is known, as do the blast of funk and the asiatic vibes, introudced in Track 2 ('Str8 Outta Mumbai'), that are recurring themes across the 16 tracks.
The version of 'Jasmine' included on the release is fuller and sounds like it's been worked on since it appeared last year.
Listen to the original 'BTSTU' demo
But there are moments that sound distinctly unfinished. There are periods of silence at the end of most tracks, there’re only a few smooth segues between the skits and the tracks, and there are periods where the mixing of the vocal track sounds downright bad. The whole album doesn’t feel as precisely balanced as you would expect from Jai Paul. The cover of Jennifer Paige's 'Crush' certainly isn't something to write home about.
Part of the reason people were so ready to believe that this was a genuine Jai Paul release is that it bears the innovative originality that tastemakers have been attributing to the producer for the last two years. The intricate sampling is fascinating, and at times the production is mightily impressive.
Listen to the original 'Jasmine' demo
Traditional song structure conventions play little role, and the rhythm shift from rattling skips on Track 3, to dusty electro ticks of Track 5 ('Genevieve'), to rumbling, gently throbbing bass of the new version of 'Jasmine'. There’s the same sort of exciting, courageous production ideas in play as there are on known tracks ‘BTSTU’ and ‘Jasmine’, so it’s understandable why people believed this was Jai Paul’s album.
It's hard to know what standard these tracks should be judged by. Are they finished? Are they even him? If this was released as a full album as it is no doubt there would be some serious criticisms of certain aspects. But there are also tracks that sound truly brilliant. Hopefully there's a proper, well finished album not far behind, but these tracks are a pretty good listen in the meantime.
