At the intersection of hip-hop, pop and punk, Jean Dawson really stands out as an emerging multi-faceted artist. Last year’s Pixel Bath showcased a full-on genre-blender with a palpable energetic and highly-relatable angst reminiscent of Kid Cudi, Willow, and Bartees Strange. He dropped the documentary Burnout, that gave a window into his creative process, has been shouted out by Travis Barker and is set to go out on tour supporting Brockhampton next year.
Now with “Menthol*,” Dawson has tabbed his pal Mac DeMarco to play guitar on the jam. DeMarco provides a steady riff for Dawson to simply let go on the track in the most powerful way. You can really feel him losing himself in the music and it’s this type of visceral expression that’s going to keep drawing attention to his output. Dawson shared a statement on the song:
“I’ve just been wanting to scream all the time – not out of anger or any emotion I can pinpoint but just scream at the top of my lungs at nothing. I don’t know if the song represents that at all but the song is just where I’m at with s***. I think I fully lost my ability to care about s*** I don’t care about and it’s truly beautiful. I guess I’m really infatuated with the chaoticness that comes with the idea of tomorrow”
There’s beauty in that imbalance he describes and as the song comes to a close, a voicemail from DeMarco to Dawson plays, offering a parting note of comfort: “Jean, it’s Mac D. Just dropping you a line today to remind you that you should take it easy on yourself. Enjoy what you’re doing. And if you stop enjoying it at some point, hey..no problem. Don’t do it anymore. God Bless you. Love you. Ciao.”
Listen to “Menthol*” above.