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REVIEW : Paul Institute - Summer 2020

The Paul Brothers have always had a knack for creating hype and rejecting it at the same time. It’s still funny to me to think about the rage that provoked Jai Paul’s debut album launch. Even now that his LP has found a home on streaming platforms - minus a few unclearable samples - it’s still unclear if the whole stolen laptop story and upload on Bandcamp was a hoax. If I had to bet, I would say it was a brilliant middle finger aimed at corny viral marketing strategies, but your guess is as good as mine.

While both Jai and his brother A.K. Paul have released music under their respective monikers, The Paul Institute remains their most intriguing project. Details emerge with every release, but it’s still shrouded in an incredible amount of mystery.

You have to subscribe to SMS updates on their website to be kept in the loop of the Institute’s activities and releases. The Pauls are notoriously cagey, they rarely give interviews or do conventional marketing campaigns. The institute’s mission itself is still hard to grasp: having co-released their music with XL, it’s a de facto label, albeit not a conventional one. It often feels more like a creative hub through which the English brothers can release their own songs, as well as tracks by other like-minded collaborators.

Without much of a heads up, a mixtape entitled Paul Institute - Summer 2020 appeared on Spotify last week. Following a string of singles from various artists, the 6-track collection opens with the eclectic R&B of A.K. Paul’s track Be Honest, a slow-burning number which gives the tone to the whole EP, without imposing any of its nuances. Smoother than his debut single Landcruisin’, it shares some of its qualities: Same dislocated drum machine soaked in gated reverb, same kind of choked up guitar lead.

HIRA follows with Unreal, a sweet and melodic downtempo number that takes Be Honest’s moody attitude and runs with it. It’s more expansive and layered in its approach. The falsetto choir that punctuates the track is unmistakably inspired by Jai’s early releases, which feels like running into an old friend you haven’t seen in at least a year.

With this one-two punch, the album delivers exactly what’s expected: sulfurous jams. But then Shadow Knight takes the first of a few 90-degree turns. With REINEN at its helm, it couples the Pauls mechanical rhythms with some gothic vocals and gloomy sound design. A comparison to Prince has practically been a contractual obligation every time someone mentions the Paul Brothers, but Shadow Knight is actually closer to the operatic avant-pop of an artist like Kate Bush.

Another 90-degree turn comes with Ruthven’s Have You Decided? With its fusion jazz influence and it’s prog-rock inflection, this ballad would have been right at home on the waves of an FM station, at the turn of the 80s. The kind of thing you would listen to as a kid, counting clouds on the backseat of your dad’s car. Here, Ruthven cements his place as the Institute’s crooner in chief with his undeniable talent as a vocalist, which was already front and center on previous singles like Hypothalamus.

With Waiting, Fabiana Palladino writes one of those 80s guitar anthems, complete with a kitschy Europe-style synth hiccuping all over the chorus. Speaking of the Purple One, this Jai Paul collab is said to have been inspired by When You Were Mine. It’s followed by Dynasty, an upbeat album closer by the new recruit Pen Pals, a duo that recorded their song over video conference. Bitter lyrics meet sweet grooves on this instantly lovable tune that closes the album beautifully.

If the Paul Institute isn’t what you’d expect from a label in the 21st century, it’s certainly what you’d desire from an artistic movement, and if it was to be taken as such, you should consider Summer 2020 as a manifesto. Taking every possible action to go against everything pop music is - and isn’t - right now. the Paul Institute is reclaiming an abandoned territory that used to be occupied by the 90s electronic avant-garde.

“When you’re making music that’s different, music that’s innovative, it makes it harder to kinda get your stuff out there. But, [the Paul Institute crew] sort of felt... If we can work together, it makes it a lot easier” explained A.K. in a recent - and rare - interview with Annie Mac.

Contrasting with Jai Paul’s high concept marketing, the Paul Institute seems to just throw some of the most exciting music of the year over the wall in the most unaffected way possible, like an overfed pig over the walls of Carcassonne.

The message is clear: Plenty more where that came from.

For more cool albums like this one, check out our review section.