Review of Jinsang’s Album, “Solitude”

Jinsang is a lo-fi hip-hop producer who specializes in cool, melodic tracks that will worm their way into your ears without you even noticing. Although he’s only 19, he has five albums on Bandcamp, and he’s done pretty well for himself selling cassettes of his work. His style hasn’t changed much in the few years that he’s put out material, but his latest release, the pleasantly fuzzy Solitude, clearly demonstrates his budding ear for quality samples.

The album’s sound is perfectly captured by its cover, a painting of crashing waves by Miranda Robson. These waves really make a poignant metaphor for the beats themselves — always returning, remaining consistent through a constant state of flux. Sonically and structurally, Jinsang attempts to evoke that same feeling. Light piano melodies float through the album like shifting sand, alongside understated percussion and light bass. But Solitude is really characterized by the distant-sounding orchestral flourishes that Jinsang frequently brings into the mix. I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled some mouldering easy-listening records from his grandparents’ attic and didn’t even bother to blow the dust off before he sampled them.

Jinsang is clearly a fan of old jazz standards, though he distorts them by choosing pretty obscure versions. The melody from a random performance of “Misty” forms the basis of the track “Elevated,” and a weird sax cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” reveals itself sporadically on “Island.” The result is a sense of nostalgia that you can’t quite put your finger on, as you try to guess the more recognizable classics half-buried in each cut. The stand-out track here is “Smile from U,” a pitched-up remix of Bill Wither’s “Make a Smile for Me” that’s propelled forward by some infectious sleighbells and a bass line that will keep your head nodding til the song ends. “Smile from U” has already been picked up as a de facto single by the Youtube curator Dirty Beats, so there’s no doubt that Jinsang’s career will only go up from here. Since Solitude clocks in at nearly an hour, it may be a while before we hear another release from this young artist. Either way, he’s worth keeping an eye on.