The stylistic tone of a metallic sheet meets the passionate funk of two men wading in space, bobbing gently to their own groove and floating. Within the same year of their release of Big Black Coat, Junior Boys return and take off from the ground into the ether on their latest EP.
Kiss Me All Night EP dampens the harder rhythms and infectious beats of their album and extrapolates the smoother and ethereal soundscapes of their production. Intricate clicks and claps take a backseat but to taste. A complimentary vocal performance of frontman Jeremy Greenspan aids in this for a fully evolved and flexed version of Junior Boys which yearns for more of the same idea. It’s clear the inspiration and sonic direction which Greenspan has taken upon in the past year – coproduction on Jessy Lanza’s sophomore LP Oh No as well as with Borys on But Wait There’s More to show – where Kiss Me All Night takes the sparkling-bubbliness of techno and funk to the forefront.
How could this surpass the already excellent release from just 6 months prior? For one, the conciseness of Kiss Me All Night is difficult to breach with a four track extended play. The best aspects of recent Junior Boys are put forth in songs likes “Some People Are Crazy” and the title track, the former being a cover rendition but unsubscribing to the spirit of the duo. Progressive synthesizers arpeggiate to minimalistic drums, reminiscent to work on Lanza’s albums, but overall the sensuality isn’t nuanced to the same degree. Vocally, Greenspan implements old school R&B/Pop takes to the futuristic technologic, pitching down to key and maintaining a dry quality, but not tone, to juxtapose the dripping nature of the instruments as he speaks of love and human passion.
All tracks are worthy of listen and worthy of praise. Junior Boys continue their parade of business in the year of 2016 but refuse to surrender rank.