SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JUNIOR BOYS – KISS ME ALL NIGHT EP

Junior Boys
Kiss Me All Night EP
City Slang Records

Hamilton’s favourite Electro-Pop duo is back with another mesmerizing addition to their collection. After dropping its first album release in five years this past February, Junior Boys keeps the tracks coming with its Kiss Me All Night EP. This EP is Junior Boys at its best; a collection of retro synths and samples intricately layered over pulsing electronic beats, all brought together with Jeremy Greenspan’s vulnerable yet soulful vocals.

The boys in Junior Boys have always been electronic music purists in a sense. With so many classic synthesizer tones, it wouldn’t be surprising to discover they had raided Kraftwerk’s studio for all their analogue gear. Junior Boys, however, is not stuck in the past, as it utilizes the layering of these classic tones to create modern grooves and hypnotizing beats. Also, the element of Greenspan’s tender vocals makes any of Junior Boys work fit for any current dance playlist. Kiss Me All Night is four tracks long and it is Junior Boys doing what it does best from start to finish.

The opening track “Yes” is a great example of how Junior Boys layers and builds upon a beat to create magic. Each piece of the puzzle comes in one at a time, beginning with a particularly rigid beat, then bringing in some warmer tones along with the first verse of soulful melodic vocals. After this verse everything starts creeping in; additions to the drum beat, bass, more dreamy synths and modulators. By the end of the track it is impossible to focus on one single element; it all becomes one and it’s hypnotizing. “Some People Are Crazy” is another standout track, and it really opens up the space right from the start. With a fragmented drumbeat echoing out as the warm soothing synths join in, along with a muted bass it sounds almost like the whole thing was recorded underwater. This song builds as they all do, but it’s rooted in the dreamy tones it begins with and it doesn’t lose our attention throughout the five-minute-plus serenade.

Kiss Me All Night is a great piece of work from start to finish. There may be a track or two that stand out but this is definitely a collection of songs to enjoy the whole way through. Junior Boys has always flown under the radar to much of the world, but with the consistent strong material the duo has put out this past year, that may all change.

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