Elusive Egyptian Producer J!N Releases New Track and Video ‘Firefly’

In April of this year, fuelled by a kind-of existential readjustment to life under lockdown, Egyptian producer, J!N, released a five-track EP that formed an ethereal intimacy that was as inviting as it was enigmatic. Released on Cairo label, Hizz, Foreigner revelled in its own ambience, its nebulous soundscapes boasting a cinematic ebb and flow.

For her latest release, ‘Firefly’, the producer has gone more in the way of trip-hop, though her trademark ambient sounds still act as the heart of the lo-fi track. Her vocals are a welcome return, feeding into the sonic ensemble of sounds, which come together to form a nocturnal psychedelia, thanks in large to swathing, gliding synths. <iframe width="800" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8iYnpIq30ek" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> As an artist, J!N has always been very visual and reflects the track fittingly in the video. In it, she uses footage of nature and the eponymous creature, seen through a glitchy, noisy lens, while she too appears through a double exposure effect. There’s a sensuality to her on-screen presence, but not in the traditional sense; she melds into the other visuals, she of them and them of her, in an almost pseudo-Kafkaesque interpretation of the track.

With the release of the track, J!N revealed that she has been working on more music. Is 'Firefly' a sign of things to come? Possiby, but don’t count on it. J!N is a producer that isn’t easy to pin down. Her influences might be familiar, but what she does with them is always unpredictable.