Q and Time Out’s Kate Solomon on Yaeji’s EP2
Just occasionally, the alchemical mix of mood and having eaten exactly the right amount of food that day swirls together with the beat and timbre of a song as you hear it for the first time.
It’s so irresistibly perfect, you have to listen on repeat 63 times. My only true ‘again! again!’ moment of 2017 has been Raingurl by Yaeji, a Korean-American DJ, producer and singer.
It’s the second track on her recent EP2, whose songs are a heady mix of trap and house. Whispery vocals slide between Korean and English, spoken word, sung melody and rap, detailing everything from an introspective moment on a bangin’ night out (Raingurl) to the mundanity of the everyday (Drink I’m Sippin On).
Her previous self-titled EP focused occasionally on the absurdity of makeup which, as one of life’s makeup wearers, I am on board with.
Raingurl is the hookiest song on EP2, while most are mesmirisingly repetitive, weaving trance-like textures as Yaeji rolls repeated phrases around depth-plumbing beats.
These are songs you might not necessarily share with anyone else unless it’s 3.45am and you’re draped over each other, at exactly the right place and time.
Plus, she’s done us all a favour by removing the worst part of any Drake song - Drake - with her Passionfruit cover. Truly, the hero we need right now.
Kate Solomon
Journalist, Q, Time Out, Beat
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