When he isn’t in the studio with his bandmates from Sobs, rattling off twee-pop guitar riffs that ring out as clean as steel drums, Singapore-based producer Jared Lim assumes the more low-profile form of jorud: a mischevious digital lifeform that revels Jobs-ian softness and bubbly jazz melodies. The entity’s latest cyber-emission — the 5-track Ok ok ok ok ok EP — dips its sonic brush into its supply of the latter more often than it has in the past, especially on the record’s coolest cuts. “How Do”, for instance, applies a trap producer’s ear for dynamic/timbral contrast to quirky post-rock guitar loops, garnishing the gristly riffs with glitchy percussion, synth chimes, and a kick drum that throbs like pool water evaporating in your skull. The sounds mesh so well that’s it’s tough to pick out where each layer begins and ends: it’s an exoskeleton of warmth sitting on your skin. “Beep Boop” introduces tidal undulations to the mix without sacrificing cohesion, shuffling to future funk pulses and faint yelping vocal samples.
jorud’s cover art might appeal to PC Music’s memetic post-internet sensibilities, but his music’s a lot more sober and substantive than the visual aesthetic lets on. Ok ok ok ok ok is a tightly-produced, fast-acting shot of therapeutic heat that travels through your veins at the dregs of summer: bittersweet and powerful as it’s ever felt.
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