Albums
DJ - Kicks: Jessy Lanza (Exclusives) - EP
2021
Release Date: 2021
By Shaad D’Souza
Reviewed November 29, 2021
Balancing contemporary house and techno with detours into footwork, gqom, and more, the Canadian musician’s mix reveals the range of influences behind her own singular brand of synth pop.
In Jessy Lanza’s world, every dancefloor is a dancefloor for one, Janet Jackson’s “Empty” is the highest-selling pop song of all time, and the clock always reads 2 a.m.—the time of night that the quiet, heady dance music Lanza makes is best consumed. With each successive solo album, the contours of the Lanzaverse become more refined and the topography becomes a little more precise. After three albums—including, most recently, last year’s All the Time—Lanza’s sound feels unique and immediately identifiable. Lanza is so consistent, in fact, that it can be hard to identify her contemporaries. Her work is comparatively featherweight alongside the austere, forceful techno of her longtime collaborator Jeremy Greenspan, and although a song like “Begins,” from 2016’s Oh No, might nod to the dark, vocal-led electronic pop of FKA twigs, it’s far from her main mode. The closest fit might be someone like Doss, who, like Lanza, often seems to be making dance tracks that are just as good for daydreaming as dancing to.