THEE J JOHANZ レコード& CD

Review: Dealing with grief can be very tough. Many find that having a creative outlet proves useful. That's certainly the case for Seven Hills Records' regular Thee J Johanz, who wrote this EP while coming to terms with the death of his mother. Interestingly, it's not a particularly melancholic affair - it's too dancefloor-focused for that - but there's certainly a lot of emotion to be found amongst the chords, melodies and motifs. The standout, for us at least, is opener 'Where Goes Your Soul', where sharp, rising and falling electronic motifs ride a surging acid bassline and bustling machine drums. 'Two C Bee' sees him wrap wild, high-pitch acid sounds and bubbly, sequenced synth sounds around a chunky house beat, while 'Analex' is a formidably psychedelic slab of beat-free ambient exploration.