When the album »Dark Energy« was released seven years ago, there was a great deal of jubilation. The future of electronic music had a new name called Jlin. Jerrilynn Patton’s début album had its roots in Chicago footwork: an ultra-fast web of complex beats, dissonances and abstract sounds. But Jlin brought a modicum of individuality to the genre, if only the impression that she was in control of the multistylistic chaos she had created. Jlin then turned to ambient minimalism in 2018 with her most recent album to date, »Autobiography« – the musical score for a dance performance created by choreographer Wayne McGregor.
»Perspective«, the current mini-album, seems like a mixture of the »old« Jlin and »Autobiography«. It contains the original recordings of a commission the producer wrote in 2020 for the Third Coast Percussion ensemble from Chicago. The use of real percussion instruments is evident from the very first tracks, which are loosely anchored in footwork but bring more order to the system. On »Dissonance«, Jlin takes it to the extreme with a solo track for tribal drums and percussion. And »Duality« sounds as if Steve Reich and David Cunningham have joined forces in a common cause. But the most important message on »Perspective« is that the evolution of electronic music never ends.
