Myeye & JUICEBOX ★★★★
Psyche Gems
JAKARTA. DL/LP
Hook-up between LA rapper and Norwegian beatmakers explores soul, jazz and psych.
When laid-back LA rapper JUICEBOX held an impromptu Instagram jam session with Norwegian duo Myeye in 2021, he got more than he bargained for. Myeye’s Simen Hallset and Henrik Norbakk lent him their 10-year archive, a meld of airy strings, gossamer synths and sun-dazed beats ideal for a close-miked confessional rap style that’s half Q-Tip, half Day One’s Phelim Byrne. It works to dreamy effect on the uptempo Switchboard, warped ’60s exotica of Philosofees and Quartersnaps’s easy piano, Myeye’s fluid beat science recalling early Avalanches, Daedelus, even Lemon Jelly. Flute-laced standout All Lives Don’t Matter shows the steel behind Juicebox’s conversational delivery, his takedown of modern America ending with a resigned “Fuck the cops, fuck the government and fuck you too” delivered in the best possible taste.