Review

NLite return with a remix EP that takes their signature electronic jazz-hop sound in a fresh new direction

It’s been almost exactly a year since electro jazz-hop trio, NLite, stepped onto the scene with their eponymous debut album — an album that saw the trio express the overlap between jazz and hip hop, wrapping it all up with an electronic bow and sending it straight into our Best of 2020 list. 

The trio makes a timely return with their second offering, NLite: Remix EP, featuring favourites from the first album, reimagined by locally renowned producers ZIYON, Jullian Gomes, NOTBENJAMIN, and Chicago-hailing Niko the Great. The album also features vocalists Manana and Nalu, both adding their signature stylings to NLite’s sound. 

Opener “BTWNRLMS” (ZIYON Remix) ditches its originally ethereal energy for a soft house remix that picks up the pace just enough to get a good head bop going, and it feels to me like arriving as the sun sets on a rooftop party — warm, promising, and a little cheeky. 

“Lickkc” (NOTBENJAMIN Remix) kicks off with a jagged edit of its original analogue intro, overlaid with a sample that sounds like a 30-something crowd at a Saturday morning farmer’s market — maybe it’s the crowd sample, maybe it’s the acoustic percussion that opens up each section, or maybe it’s the acoustic piano interlude, but something about this remix takes the song from space and sets it, quite firmly, on earth in the most grounding way.  

Manana adds his vocals to “Shoden Monk” and as he sings “Gotta vegetate/ Meditate/ That’s what I appreciate/ living life in this solitary state”, I’m overcome by an appreciation for being alone that I only came to know during lockdown. Niko The Great’s remix of “Thokoza” is disturbing in a can’t-shut-out-these-voices-in-head kind of way, a tension that takes away from ASAP Shembe’s bars, and only releases midway through the song, providing an almost-too-late relief. 

Jullian Gomes comes through with a house remix of “Between The Realms” that hits hard and deep, respecting everything I loved about the original and getting really imaginative with it, taking you on a dancefloor journey like only Gomes can. This is, without a doubt, the standout track for me.

NOTBENJAMIN takes “Lickkc” for a second spin, this time featuring Nalu on vocals, and it’s the vocal feature that the album needed. She doesn’t play it safe, but rather makes it her own with her honeyed vocal tone, harmonies, and melodic lyricism. It’s listed as a bonus track, but could very easily replace the EP’s earlier iteration of “Lickkc”. 

Bearing in mind how many chefs there are in this kitchen, there is a cohesion about the reimagined music that respects NLite’s original vision, and while the EP slaps hard, I’m ready for something new from the jazz-hop trinity.