Jack Beats have gained an audience through singles and remixes for the likes of Skream, Florence + The Machine and Big Bio to name just a few. Jack Beats’ following are now “increasingly hungry” for new material, queue the new mini album Somebody To Love.
Ben Geffin and Niall Dailly make up Jack Beats, they name check many influences form all different genres to make their sound. “We’re making our own brand of hybrid music and shaking it all up a bit.” Shaking it up? So how come the new mini album sounds all the same then, I wonder.
The title and first track on the album is ‘Somebody To Love ft Jess Mills”. The track starts with a vocal sample and builds into another build into the verse. Jess Mills has a good voice but this isn’t utilised enough, instead opting for the same verse and chorus over and over again. This track sounds like Jack Beats attempt to make a more club/ electro version of ‘Katy On A Mission’, but it sadly doesn’t compare; nowhere near!
GARAGE AHOY! ‘Just a Beat’ does what it says on the tin, but not very well. The computer voice is so warped its speaks gibberish, expect for the line “it’s just a beat” before the drop. This track recycles the same mediocre beat over and over and over again; it gets boring quickly.
My Favourite track is ‘Storm ft Kid Harpoon’. The simple, eerie sub-bass and percussion works well under the vocals. The beat drops in at the pre-chorus along with a small piano line, which fills out the sound nicely. The chorus is bigger but still minimal, with meaningful lyrics and a light sense of relief/ euphoria.
Somebody To Love is a collection half idea’s stretched and doubled into whole tracks. The whole thing is half an idea within half an idea.