Electropop beats adorn a reggae rhythm with a little bit of extra color in “More Than You Know” much as they sneak their way into the backdrop of a righteous rap-style grind in “Savanna.” “Liberation” is slinky in its delivery of supple grooves where “Moses” is much more deliberate, although stoic, in the same department. “Keep on Fighting” is defined by its tonality, but in a completely different way than the equally spellbinding “Canopy,” “Babylon Is Falling – 3.0” and stinging single “Try a Likkle More” are. Though slightly scattered in a handful of the attempts at aesthetical mashups he engages in amidst these latest studio sessions, Jonathan Emile’s natural talents shine through the hiccups in these tracks, all of which can be found on his delightful new LP Spaces-in-Between.
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Despite its short running time (35 minutes, to be exact), Spaces-in-Between manages to cover a lot of stylistic ground in only ten songs – including the powerhouse tunes “Rock & Come Over,” “Try a Likkle More” and balladic “Moses.” There’s shades of alternative hip-hop and even northeastern R&B in these reggae wonders, and while they’re prefaced by some material that is brilliantly experimental in its own right, I think this trio of tracks perhaps best summarizes who Emile is as a songwriter right now. Whether it be “Savanna,” “More Than You Know” (with Ezra Lewis) or “Liberation” (with Chanda T Holmes), there’s an urgency to the execution this artist employs throughout the record – even in relaxed moments – that might make some listeners feel like the flow here is rushed, but even at its most artistically conflicting, it’s hard for even the harshest of critics to deny the ambitiousness sewn into every sonic component of Spaces-in-Between.
There’s no denying that Jonathan Emile still has plenty of room for growth, but I personally love where he’s going with this most recent set of recordings, led by the incomparable “Try a Likkle More.” The loose ends in Spaces-in-Between suggest that there’s plenty of territory left for this artist to explore in another full-length effort, and as I see it, I think he’s going to be one of the more interesting players to follow in 2020.
Jodi Marxbury