Two years. Usually an artist will release two or three albums in this period of time, or one album at least. Yet, Jai Paul takes this time to release two songs. With this kind of work ethic, you would expect people to lose interest. However, his first release ‘BTSTU’ received universal acclaim, and was sampled by both Drake and Beyoncé. After signing to XL Recordings, Jai Paul then released an edit of ‘BTSTU’ and hadn’t released anything until ‘Jasmine’ dropped in late March. So is Jai Paul still keeping people enticed after making them wait?
‘Jasmine’ begins with a deep, throbbing synth line straight out of the ‘Drive’ soundtrack. A cascading guitar line and Jai’s faint, fragile croon emerge, as melodies and noises drop in and out. A hand-clap beat, a handful of great melodies and Jai’s stop-start style builds the song until it fades out. It’s quite astonishing to think this is only a demo. The refrain of “Jasmine” comes in the form of “Please come back to me/ Make my dream come true”. Compared to the refrain of the more assertive ‘BTSTU’, “I know I’ve been gone a long time, but/ I’m back and I want what is mine”, it appears Jai Paul isn’t going to give up easily, and who can complain if it means he’ll make more irresistible music. Whoever “Jasmine” may be, if this doesn‘t bring her back to him, I don’t know what will.
Jai Paul‘s work ethic can be criticised, but his releases up until now have been fantastic, including the teasing one-and-a-half-minute demo of ‘Genevieve’ and his remix of Emiliana Torrini’s ‘Jungle Drum’. The release of ‘Jasmine’ will only strengthen his credibility as a talented songwriter and producer. Now let’s hope we don’t have to wait another two years for something new.
Calum Stephen
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