Continua

Album review

Since his rise more than a decade ago at influential L.A. club the Low End Theory, where he regularly appeared alongside residents including Flying Lotus, the Gaslamp Killer and Daddy Kev, the beat producer Jason Chung has crafted striking instrumental tracks informed by—but not beholden to—the wellspring of electronic beat music that has come before him.

On his fifth solo album as Nosaj Thing, Chung, who has produced or mixed tracks for Grimes, Kendrick Lamar and Kid Cudi, draws on classic genres including UK garage, drum and bass, hip-hop, techno, trip hop and breakbeat, melding various rhythms, tempos and structures until each track is uniquely Nosajian.  

Chung's previous records each had a couple vocal tracks to complement his sleek instrumentals. On Continua, though, he's gone all in, inviting an album's worth of vocalists to add warmth and lyricism to his productions. In addition to frequent collaborators Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead) and Julianna Barwick, Chung taps the voices of Toro y Moi's Chaz Bear, serpentwithfeet, Panda Bear, Pink Siifu, Sam Gendel, Eyedress and others, resulting in brilliantly distinctive tracks that combine to create a moody, mesmerizing whole. There are few barbs or rough edges and lots of spacious echo, which propels the music with an aerodynamic flow. Each flawless rivet is flush, all seams and angles precisely aligned, any extra weight or impedance discarded for lack of utility. On the slow-burning "Blue Hour," Barwick sings of doubt, faith and hope inside dawn and/or dusk while a Nosaj bassline flows through the measures without pause. Snare-style percussion cracks with lightning-like intensity. As the song progresses, a steady midrange synth gradually rises, building tension that only finds release with the final bar.

"Condition" finds Chung teaming with Chaz Bear for a proggy, warbling track that, instrumentally, sounds like something from Brian Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets. "Running toward the light/ It's tunnel vision," Bear sings as Nosaj's beat continues along a similarly focused path. © Randall Roberts/Qobuz