KIWI - Oooh EP

August 10, 2018 - 17 Steps

KIWI is a DJ’s producer. He’s been in a long-term romance with the club scene in the UK, and he carefully considers his application and his audience in all the records he releases. His latest EP Oooh, released on Dusky’s 17 Steps, contains two new, simple, catchy, slow-release pills crafted for easy integration in a setlist. They are also clean surfaces to build upon and out from, full of young substance and tooth that’s easy to latch onto. 

I’m at a loss to truly understand KIWI’s work because I have never seen him perform live under a haze of shared endorphins, but I imagine the recorded songs on this EP as I hear them through headphones while quietly sitting at my desk are only half of a whole picture. This is not to say the production value on the EP is lacking—it is more than adequate. But the songs are very reserved when considered by themselves, and KIWI only reveals a brief glimpse of un-reservation in decisive moves at the very end of each track. 

For ‘Oooh,’ this un-reservation comes in the form of a dreamy piano melody that chases like sugar after a spoonful of medicine. The laid-back energy of the vocal samples and synths in the rest of the track reads like one long build or introduction. But, instead of an epic drop at the end per my expectations, KIWI tosses out an unexpected soft piano melody. It’s a brilliant, playful move that redeems the song at the very end of my attention span. 

‘Andromeda’ is punchier and sounds like the demo in the electronic keyboard from my childhood. It’s closer to the KIWI I know and love from his Orca EP. The castanets are endearing because they are almost silly, but, generally, all the instruments are on the same plane until the last minute and a half. At this point, KIWI again flips my expectations by distorting the dark synth melody in a move that comes on strong like a rockstar slamming his hands on the keys. 

Both songs start off as relatively generalized concepts, then morph into extraordinary moments by the power of contrast alone. It is a tasteful approach to composition that is difficult to pull off. But, when this approach is pulled off well, the result is a DJ playground—music that is comprehensively generic enough to get an audience interested, but also varied enough to keep them interested. This is music that does not give everything to the listeners but asks them to provide part of the experience as well. ☔  

Oooh EP, an album by Kiwi on Spotify