jj
‘jj no 3’
(Secretly Canadian)

It’s a bold gambit to open ‘jj n° 3’ with a stripped-back cover of ‘My Life’, The Game’s tale of mortality, suicide and overdosing on cocaine. Doing so seems to imply that Swedish duo jj have widened their perspective, stepping away from the syrupy sweet solipsism and recreational highs of ‘n° 2’. However, much like the album’s artwork – drips of blood on bright white snow – it’s a red herring of the fishiest order. ‘jj n° 3’ is flabby, repetitive and tackily-adorned, which, despite its opening track, abandons their crunk ingenuity to focus on shoehorning in as many cheap, glitzy samples and washed out lyrics about the beach as possible. Only ‘Golden Virginia’ breaks the mold, galloping at a tribal gait and forgoing the acrid sweetness that permeates the rest of the album.

Laura Snapes