March 10, 2023 - Magic Carpet
London-based DJ and producer Kawaii San’s Behind the Waterfall EP features four tight, easygoing tracks that are bouncy, bubbly, funky as hell, and perfect for the dancefloor.
Kawaii San keeps it simple with a minimal approach to composition, cutting out unnecessaries and allowing each feature to shine in its placed arrangement. With the beat always forward, each track has just enough melody to keep you hanging on for more, your head filling in the blanks of the syncopation.
Dreamy and complicated jazzy chords prance around bumbling, edgy basslines, decorated with whispers of glitter that catch the corner of your eye, er, the edge of your eardrum. At any moment you find your mind wandering to this being “another dance EP for the clubs,” Kawaii San introduces something quirky to the soup, such as a mousy squeak, a complete drop of the beat, or a blooming synth line like a pubescent boy’s voice cracking when he greets you in the hallway.
My favorite track is ‘Navigation Station.’ ☔