Jetset / Often Enough

South London’s mistress of dark, hazy 90s R&B Ojerime delivers two stunning new tracks ‘Jetset’ and ‘Often Enough’, for A COLORS SHOW.

After releasing her mixtape ‘B4 I Breakdown’ – one of the best projects of 2020 – right as the pandemic’s first wave broke, South London’s Ojerime has surfaced with two killer new records. Last week Ojerime appeared on her debut A COLORS SHOW in a vivid fit, skin glowing, to present ‘Often Enough’, a slick, melancholic track built on glitched out synths. A few days later, the artist gave us a second gift, ‘Jetset’: anthemic, hypnotic and floating on clouds of hazy smoke cut through with deep bass.

Both tracks show why Ojerime is one of the most innovative artists working in the genre today. She uses classic 90s R&B ingredients with purposeful distortions, slightly detuned vocals, foggy reverb, and glitchy samples executed with such subtlety that it almost seems imagined. This effect leaves you feeling vaguely intoxicated and serves an additional purpose: the polish is skewed just enough to access deeper levels. Like an Aaliyah from a dark digital alternate universe, Ojerime holds up a mirror to show the cracks in the facade. This was well established with ‘B4 I Breakdown’, stylish, sophisticated work that told a raw and honest story of coping with being hospitalized for a breakdown.

‘Often Enough’ is a stripped down look at the maddening experience of being ghosted, featuring Ojerime’s signature layered vocals over a simple synth loop. The live format leaves space for the artist to display passionate ad libs along with her understated, cool vocal style.

‘Jetset’, one of Ojerime's strongest and hardest tracks yet, is pure escape. Teaming up with producer JSTRINGS, the artist combines relentlessly rhythmic flows with driving bass to anchor the waviness from washed out vocals and ambient sounds. Psychedelic visuals, directed by Dylan Hayes, add another layer. Ojerime sits alone in a dark room, blurred by coloured lights and cut with footage of a bird taking off into the sky, fading in and out with a brief glimpse of co-star Rasharn Powell.  These scenes play with the first impression of the song and call lyrics describing a romantic getaway into question as real or imagined.

Ojerime’s unique and highly stylized blend of honest grit with sophisticated R&B gives us perfect tracks for emerging from the gloom and mental ordeal of lockdown.