Jean RN has sketched new shades of his artistry with ‘SKID MARKZ’, an experimental project that marks the English producer’s fourth EP.
The four-track collection, which dropped last year, offers something of a palette cleanser for Jean RN’s catalogue.
It follows his previous release ‘Laughing Alone, Eating Salad’, and showcases a more fun and carefree side to his sound with a focus on thrilling glitch-pop.
Coming in at just under 16 minutes, ‘SKID MARKZ’ is a blissfully brisk sonic joyride that doesn’t take things too seriously and spotlights Jean RN’s clear producing talent.
The project begins with ‘30th May 2022’, an opener so rich and multi-layered it requires multiple listens.
It’s easy to recall the likes of Arca and A.G. Cook in Jean RN’s work, a style now even more popular in the year of Charli XCX’s ‘brat’, but ‘30th May 2022’ still manages to feel wholly its own.
All the staples of glitch-pop are there, from chopped up samples to distorted synths and heavy basslines, but Jean RN clearly possesses an ear for more melodic flairs, too.
In between all the vocal vocoder flourishes, he finds room for bouncy and tinkling bubblegum keys, and his vocals are delivered melodically in the vein of a Brit pop track.
Later, Jean RN even delivers an almost tropical house feel with whirring synths and an ambient instrumental break. It’s in blending cathartic discordance with moments of euphony that Jean RN makes his mark.
On ‘Song For C’, her veers into rock territory with strident and cacophonic guitars, but there’s moments of pure bedroom pop with dreamy electronic keys.
Within the span of a few minutes, ‘Song For C’ flits between sugary pop to metallic rock and trap, an eclectic journey that might’ve proved too dizzying for a lesser artist.
Elsewhere, on ‘Sure’, Jean RN delivers the EP’s best vocal performance and perhaps most radio-ready cut.
It at once feels like a summery indie-rock track and a Berlin nightclub heater, with spacey atmospherics somehow adding more texture to the already deeply layered production.
Heck, he even finds space for warm acoustic guitars on the outro, proving that there’s simply no genre he’s unwilling to explore.
If you weren’t having fun already (seriously, this EP could soundtrack everything from a house party to a particularly intense gym session), then the final track ‘Diarrhea’ will hit you squarely in the funny bone.
The title itself is evidence of Jean RN’s infectiously unserious approach on ‘SKID MARKZ’, and the song itself feels like a spacious canvas upon which he can distil his influences.
It’s the glitch-pop, plunderphonics equivalent of a ballad, complete with stirring piano sections and a sing-songy, lullaby-like vocal performance.
By the time the track has finished, Jean RN’s mastery of discordance washes over you with transcendent effect, spotlighting his ability to inhabit a truly unique soundscape within the span of a brisk runtime.
The culture might only just be catching up to the very sound that Jean RN has mastered, but ‘SKID MARKZ’ proves he is a producer who is ahead of the curve and with personality to spare.
Listen to Jean RN’s EP ‘SKID MARKZ’ below.
