Roni Kaspi: PONI
Digital
Renowned jazz drummer Roni Kaspi, hailed as the Best Jazz Drummer of the Year at the Drumeo Awards, has ventured into uncharted territory with her debut EP, PONI. A unique blend of jazz undertones, sprawling chord movements, vibrant synth sounds, deep bass, and Roni’s tight drumming and smoky vocal delivery, the result is a mixture of all to create an electronic art-pop sound somewhere between The Japanese House, Men I Trust, and Poliça.
Opening with Why Does, the EP starts with muted, boxy lift music, almost acting as if to mislead you into thinking this will be a jazz album. As the track progresses, a sharp snap of snare introduces warm, deep live bass, along with Kaspi’s silky, smoky lead vocal over a wash of swelling synths. Moving through subtle key changes, it shifts into a brilliantly angular synth riff at the midpoint, finally intensifying to a four-to-the-floor beat surrounded by a sea of energetic, bright synths around the punching drums.
Elsewhere on the album, Mistakes captures a Charlie XCX-meets-Caroline Polachek-esque energy, vibrant electronic production, and charm with its bouncing tempo and bright melodic vocal lines. Falling With You leans further into the Alternative-R&B side of PONI’s sonic approach with a light sense of shuffle and choppy rhythmics over the moving, jazz-influenced bass.
Later into the EP, S Song brings high energy and atmospheric intensity, while You Will Shine balances Kaspi’s jazz and soul roots with twinkling synths, offering a track which, out of all six tracks, would find itself belonging among jazz-fusion, albeit the poppier side of the spectrum.
The closing track, STAY, builds a sprawling mass of guitar riffs and glitching synths before shifting into a heavenly, dreamy R&B groove under sparse vocal melodies and understated musical breaks. At the midpoint, Kaspi really lets go, showcasing some intense drum fills under a wall of sprawling synth before her processed vocals enter, drawing the track towards its euphoric climax.
An EP which showcases not only Roni Kaspi’s amazing drum work but also her ear for interesting electronic soundscapes, jumping from alt-pop through to Bonobo and Mura Masa-esque IDM, PONI is jam-packed with fantastic musicianship and vibrant, fluid ideas that give the whole release a sense of excitement and joy. Pleasingly alternative yet retaining an easy likability and accessibility, the EP is a triumph and showcases what Kaspi is capable of outside of the jazz world.
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All words by Simon Lucas-Hughes. More writing by Simon Lucas-Hughes can be found at his author’s archive.
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