Making the night as light as day – that’s what Jennifer Lee, aka TOKiMONSTA, is working on on her fourth opus. She continues her nocturnal journey, which began with 2017’s Red Moon, selected at the 2019 Grammy Awards in the Best Dance/Electronic Album category.
An independent artist with an exceptional career path, from classical pianist to self-taught beatmaker, she joined Flying Lotus in 2010 and has since collaborated with a plethora of big names in hip hop, R&B and electro. She now supports lesser-known artists on her Young Art Records label. Here she once again gives free rein to her eminent talent as a producer and sound designer, with an attention to detail that can be heard throughout.
Oasis Nocturno presents itself as a contrasting panorama of musical and emotional states. First of all on instrumental tracks, such as the atmospheric “Up and Out”, with its twilight keyboard and guitars, a real gem, or the minimal electro with oriental fragrances of “House of Dal”. Then there are the tracks with guest artist,: by turns salacious (“Get me Some”), soft (“Phases”) and festive, even raucous on the dynamic “Fried for the Night”, with its deep beats. “Better alone,” she says on “Come and Go”, a song of confidence and autonomy, sung by the sororal duo VanJess, a tonic of strength and dignity. On “Higher Hopes”, over high-pitched piano, Rosehardt’s hopeful voice merges with the groove, an invitation to heal our wounds. There is no better way to end this odyssey than with the graceful “For my Eternal, Oh Dream my Treasure”.
