<p><span><span>- Somewhere between the ambient IDM pioneered by <strong>Aphex Twin</strong> in <em>Selected Ambient Works 85-92 </em>and the post-dubstep house music of the 2010’s, exists Seoul based producer Park Hye Jin’s new EP, <em>How Can I.</em> <em>How Can I </em>features a downtempo beat that never hides away, leaving only genre hopping dance music and vocals that never seem to overstep their territory; for Park Hye Jin, only the dancefloor exists.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Can You</em> is the perfect example of the genre-free rave that Park Hye Jin sets out to conceptualise on this record. Sweeping synthesisers and a flickering beat gives the track a menacing, industrial pulse that reads like a trip-hop take on <strong>Throbbing Gristle</strong>’s <em>Hamburger Lady</em>. As Park Hye Jin fluctuates between singing and rapping in Korean and English, so do the emotions of her lyrics. Like the way the beat moves with a purpose, lyrics flick between “<em>Can you be my baby? / I love you and I fucking hate you</em>” - for Park Hye Jin, lyrics that flow like a train of thought work best at their least decisive.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Though the EP feels considerably less trip-hop inspired than her previous EP <em>If U Want It</em>, its fourth track <em>NO</em> features intense production that isn’t too far away from Massive Attack’s <em>Mezzanine</em>. The darkness that intrudes into Park Hye Jin’s house music is delightful, an embrace of sounds that oppose each other, but together form an evanescent display of experimentalism.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>For Park Hye Jin, <em>How Can I</em> is a reset. It embraces the house music of her debut EP, but increasingly challenges its own soundscape with darker musical choices. It may never settle for one genre or another, but that’s the beauty in the freedom of her rave.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Sean Tayler.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2373319769/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="http://parkhyejin.bandcamp.com/album/how-can-i">How can I by 박혜진 Park Hye Jin</a></iframe>
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