With Prix6 and Charles King in the booth for good measure, Monsieur Job redefines the parameters of a slick Latin hip-hop groove in the song “Ese Tumbao – Remix,” but much as it is in the more rock-inspired “Malevo Maleva,” the vocal harmonies are a bit more transcendent than the percussive frills are. “Da Funk” and the dub version of “I Get High” are a little more drum-focused, but next to the more physical “Spinner – Remix,” “Soul Slurp,” and “Backstabbers – Remix,” I don’t know that their biggest beats could compete with the muscular presence of the texture in the latter tracks. In W.T.F.!,
URL: http://monsieurjobofficial.com/
Monsieur Job aren’t limiting their attention to one aspect of their multidimensional sound, but instead compiling ten-dozen different songs that together form the patchwork of what this project is in its totality – a divine force for experimentation. If you’re shocked to find reggae rhythm in “Got to Keep on Movin’” and lush trap beats in “No Pain” occupying the same tracklist, you clearly aren’t familiar with the bold and talented act in the byline, as this is hardly the first instance in which Toby Holguin’s iconic project has developed unpredictable (and wholly mesmerizing) songcraft.
Darkness follows the harmonies in “Ese Tumbao” the same as a buoyant melodicism seeps into the core of “Mighty High,” “Madrid 87,” and the stalking “Capri – Remix” where we’re least expecting it to be. There’s rarely a moment in W.T.F.! that feels manufactured, and in the case of the forced plasticity we hear in synth numbers like “Vente Conmigo,” even the more synthetic componentry in this record has an organic warmth I don’t hear much of in the mainstream pop movement north or east of Monsieur Job’s native country anymore. There’s a fluidity to this LP that largely comes from the aesthetical liberalism we encounter in literally every song in the tracklist, and while there’s tension in the likes of “Chukiti” and the smothering “Piel Roja,” there’s just as much catharsis waiting to be unlocked in “Yerushalaim Je T’ Aime – Remix” and “Me Brilla la Cara.” The best advice I can give you? Press play, then shuffle, and let this 120-song opus go for it – you won’t regret it.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/sl/artist/monsieur-job/1269014471
Monsieur Job is a project that has been blowing up enormously in Colombia over the past three years, and I think it goes without saying that while this record was made for the hardcore fans, it’s going to serve just as well as a gateway for new listeners as well. There’s a lot of magic to discover in “Quiero Darte la Mano – Remix” and “Capri” just to name a couple of favorites, and if you’re the type to get lost in the ambiance of a well-arranged collection of songs, you could absolutely say that W.T.F.! was recorded with you in mind. Monsieur Job continues to warm and surprise me with their incredible output, and if you’re into surreal experimentation, theirs is a sound you just have to experience for yourself via W.T.F.! this year.
Chadwick Easton