Do Everything With Our Heart

FKJ “Joy”

FKJ’s debut is remarkably slick and sophisticated in its composition, effortlessly sliding between funk, soul, jazz, and house without ever feeling like a series of forced juxtapositions. “Joy” is the climax of the record, and ties together many of the musical threads through the set, while leaning hard on jazz elements in particular. The electric keyboard holds down the groove and sets the tone for soloing, but the horn parts are fabulously emotive as they swing between delicate, pensive phrases and bold, expressive soloing. I know some people have trouble with saxophones and jazz in general, and associate it with either cheesiness or inaccessible meandering, but this track is a particularly good ambassador for both. FKJ sugars the pill of jazz a bit by situating it in this elegant dance track, but lets the solos unfurl with incredible feeling and melodic grace. The vocals in “Joy” are all chopped up samples, and while they’re quite expressive and joyful, it’s just there to accent the beat and frame the leads. Words can just get in the way of a big feeling like this.

Buy it from Amazon.