Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
From the moment we get started in “Sweet N Sour” forward, there’s never any denying the venomous undertow Jojo Engelbert and Yetibear are unleashing in this track both melodically and physically via the drums. There’s no big build-up or lead-in to explore here, but instead an urgent crunch that only gets more imposing as we press on in the track, which allows for the swell of harmonies in the chorus to be that much more insistent when we come across them. “Sweet N Sour” is, in this regard, everything its name would suggest, albeit leaning on the former more than the latter in terms of its title.
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/therealjojoengelbert/
Rather than trying to get out of the way of the instrumental burst of energy in the climax, there’s a moment where it becomes obvious Engelbert is intending on integrating her voice into the most intense portion of this song, which is both brazen and bold beyond what I’m used to out of players in her scene. Instead of going with the flow of the groove, she’s fighting against it at this juncture and giving us a pretty good handle of what she can accomplish whether she’s got the strength of the band behind her or not.
Pushy, assertive, and much more progressive than what her peers have been producing for the better part of the last six months, Jojo Engelbert’s “Sweet N Sour” is every bit the juggernaut I was hoping it would be, and it’s definitely a bit more punishing to its mundane competitors than is necessary. This is a singer and songwriter who is on the cusp of something very special with this sound, and in this single and its music video we’re getting to know who and what this artist is all about better than we would through any interview or written article.
Skyler Voss
