French Kiwi Juice is a special record. It’s electronic music, yes, but its appeal lies so far beyond that. Hip hop fans are going to find a lot to love here. (Based on “Skyline” alone, I’m hoping Chance the Rapper taps FKJ to write a few beats for him.) Jazz fans will find a lot to love too — listen to the saxophone in “We Ain’t Feeling Time”!

French Kiwi Juice embraces loops, but it’s so texturally nuanced that it’s hard to describe it in those terms. It’s easy to see why the album is getting embraced all over social media: it’s transcendent.

“Lying Together” riffs off hip hop. “Die with a Smile” feels like vintage jazz music coming together with electronic synths.

Without a doubt, part of the lightning in the bottle comes from FKJ’s Parisian background. There’s such a mixture of culture and ideas here that the music could only come from Europe. FKJ is at a point where he’s still sucking up great ideas. The producer is still in his mid-twenties, at a point where he’s not done grabbing inspiration from wherever it’s available to him.

The best tracks on the record, for me, are the jazzy ones and the oddities. I love “Go Back Home”, which has a pop-influenced chorus and a glitchy beat that would have belonged in Kanye West beats circa 2003.

It’s hard to talk in depth about FKJ’s debut. It doesn’t have the raw vocal power of any of the most-talked about musicians of the past couple years. But his textural take on French house is so superb that it bears discussion only in superlatives.

I can’t recommend French Kiwi Juice enough. It’s one of the most consistently exhilarating debuts of the past couple years, and it’s been on steady repeat for the past two weeks.

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When I hear the genre “house music,” I still cringe a little inside from the early–2000s pre-conceived notion that it was all going to be heavy beats and ridiculous dancing. But HNNY is remarkably more restrained, feeling a bit more like a soul record than anything else. Which makes sense, because HNNY has a tendency to sample American soul music, which gives his music a certain vibe.

I don’t think you could actually dance to Sunday. That’s not a bad thing, for the record (no pun intended). Check out Cheer Up My Brother for a little bit of a flavour of how HNNY sounds: if anything, I’d call this house music because I’d listen to it while chilling at my house.

Fans of laid-back pop music with soul influence definitely shouldn’t pass this up. And fans of great music in general should give this a listen to.

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Avicii does the same thing. I know everybody’s listening to him right now and this is hardly an unknown recommendation, but I actually have something to say about him so too bad. His album is very danceable, but he’s also succeeded in making a dance album that tells an actual story. This isn’t a concept album or anything like that, but songs like Hey Brother and Wake Me Up actually give the listener something to munch on beyond a good beat. Dear Boy delivers on something that’s more traditional without eschewing what makes Avicii an interesting artist. Liar Liar is a great track, but the moneymaker on the record — the one I’m surprised I haven’t heard more people talk about — is Shame On Me. This delivers the same fun the classic Mambo Number Five delivers, but with a more modern vibe. Love it.

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