This is turning out to be a great year for R&B. There have been a slew of big, great releases–that instant classic Channel Orange, a solid LP from Usher (which bears the still-song-of-the-year “Climax”), and Total Loss, the to-be-released effort from How To Dress Well that looks to be just about perfect.
But there have also been a handful of great LPs fly under the radar (BJ the Chicago Kid, anyone?). I recently caught wind of JMSN’s Priscilla via this incredible remix from electronic producer Kastle.
Priscilla is a generously portioned LP (expect a review soon!) with a handful of distinct highlights. “Alone” is one of the standouts, with a very House Of Ballons-esque haze. JMSN (pronounced “Jameson”) has a unique voice, but ranges in likeness everywhere from Imogen Heap, to HTDW, to Justin Timberlake’s falsetto.
With this remix, Kastle takes the opportunity to pitch down that excellent voice and, instrumentally, makes things even damper, even better. It’s tough not to hear The Weeknd’s “What You Need” here, as the lyrical and instrumental similarities are clear and ubiquitous (those bass-to-handclap hits may be straight rips). But it’s just too well-excecuted to call “foul.” You have to love those remixes that improve so much on the original, you don’t want to look back. This is one of those remixes: a champion of the druggy, lust-over-everything sound we fell in love with not too long ago.
