This Is Our Jam: Shlohmo, “wen uuu”

The cover of L.A. producer Shlohmo’s Vacation EP is eerily reminiscent of the rocky coastline in Michael Antonioni’s classic film L'Avventura, about the mystery of a woman who suddenly goes missing while boating on holiday. Much like the film, Shlohmo is more concerned with mood than resolution, and sees atmosphere as inseparably linked to plot. Using a ghostly clipped sample, “wen uuu” sustains a blend of wistful sadness and brittle unease similar to like-minded artists Holy Other and Balam Acab. While the foggy R&B territory of “wen uuu” has been traversed before, Shlohmo’s production is especially sparse. And like the Antonioni film, there’s an emptiness to the track that suggests the listener has lost something along the way.