Jlin

Autobiography (Music from Wayne McGregor's Autobiography)

BY Daniel SylvesterPublished Oct 2, 2018

9
It's practically canon that Jlin's first two LPs are stone-cold masterpieces. So it's impressive that the Gary, IN musician managed to keep her hot streak going for a third release, and it's even more impressive when you learn the story behind Autobiography.
 
Although it's not being billed as a true followup to last year's Black Origami, Jlin wrote the album's 13 tracks as a score for a dance performance by British choreographer Wayne McGregor. Coming out just over a year since her sophomore LP, it's incredible how adventurous and focused Jlin sounds given the project's time and thematic restrictions.
 
Tracks like the grime-influenced "Annotation," the skeletal "Carbon 12" and the rubbery "Kundalini" come off cinematic and inventive, while the "Permutation" and "Blue i" are built around impossible rhythms. But it's remarkable just how many standout tracks Autobiography contains, as even the album's overture and interludes seem expertly crafted and notable.
 
Because it's the soundtrack to a dance piece, Autobiography is well sequenced and meant to be consumed as a single listen, but there are also some real bangers like "The Abyss of Doubt" and "Mutation" that wouldn't sound out of place on a playlist. With Autobiography, Jlin shows she might be incapable of creating anything less than brilliant.
(Planet Mu)

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