Album Review: FKJ Gives Us The Succulent “French Kiwi Juice”
Warning: FKJ’s French Kiwi Juice must be played in a dimly lit room with only scented candles, velvet sheets, and whip cream. DONE! This is album is too sensual, and I am unsurprised. After all, FKJ’s homeland of France is known for being a purveyor of romance and sensuality. I truly relish anyone that goes beyond being physically sexy to spiritually sexy, and FKJ does exactly.
Sex can be treated like a taboo topic despite it being everywhere. Yet, I am convinced that people’s hesitance to approach sex comes from their forgetting that its not just about bodies connecting but souls, as well. In this sense, French Kiwi Juice is track after track “soul connection” that will ignite touch between you and your love. When you hear the saxophone of “We Ain’t Feeling Time”, you will not know how to handle the surge of passion and fantasy that enters your mind. It is a perfect introduction to an album that actually does make you lose your sense of time. FKJ is a multi-instrumentalist, which, for me, is a sign of intelligence and determination. He has arranged each instrumental to be like a touch between two lovers who know what are the sweet spots that make each other croon in love. From a gentle kiss to a caress of the back of one’s neck, songs such as “Skyline” and “Vibe Out” play too well for the moments when love actually does feel special, romantic, and like you could “Die With A Smile” from it. FKJ paces his music to be as delicate and slowly paced as tenderness itself. There is something generous about true, felt love because when you hold you lover in your arms, it means you are also holding them in your heart. FKJ’s twinkled synths and drawn melodies stir listeners to stop and look at their partner with wonder and desire.
Despite, the overarching theme of sensuality that pulses through this album, there are tracks that spotlight FKJ’s Hip Hop, R&B, and Funk inspirations. Tracks such as, “Joy” and “Canguu” have the bouncing basslines that define these genres ability to instantly make people move with freedom and happiness over their bodies and hearts. While FKJ does sing throughout the album his main focus is to highlight sound as a striker of people’s spirits. When he does enter a song, it is with a lightness that makes him, almost, indistinguishable from his beats. This may sound like a “bad thing”, but it is actually fascinating and pushes further that FKJ sees his voice as another instrument that is not meant to outshine his arrangements but shine with them. Thus, his soft, slow utters in “Why Are There Boundaries” and “Better Give U Up” furthers the album’s aura of gentility. Yes, he will make you “boogie” like in the electro-infused “Go Back Home”, but this album soars because it makes you still as your spirit moves your body. So often, we let our bodies move our souls, but French Kiwi Juice shows that sensuality is when your soul moves your body, especially towards another soul. For More Information On FKJ And To Buy the succulent French Kiwi Juice On March 3 Click Here.
