Have You Heard?

Ben Khan - Zenith

Khan’s swaggering new song ‘Zenith’ virtually blows everything that came before it out of the water.

1st April 2015

Weedy isn’t a word that you’d ordinarily associate with Ben Khan’s ‘1992’ EP, but now, in the overwhelming glare of newer material on upcoming EP ‘1000’, that’s how it sounds in comparison. Last month the frenetic skitter of Khan’s title track busted onto the scene, and along with this swaggering follow-up ‘Zenith’, everything that came before has virtually been blown out of the water. Thudding opening beats make way for funky guitar riffs and chunky synths, while Khan attempts to faux-soothe his listener in the most threatening way possible: “I won’t lie,” he snarls. “I won’t incinerate your heart.”

It’s a little less immediate than our first taste of the new EP, but there’s palpable development from last year’s similar effort, ‘Savage’. The synths are gloopier, the bass heavier. Use of falsetto has been severely limited. It all makes for a decidedly meaty aesthetic – and one far less comparable to Khan’s elusive space-funk precursor, Jai Paul. They’ve never been similar enough to warrant the link that’s so often made between them, and with Khan’s music progressing so rapidly it wouldn’t be a surprise if the comparison were drawn the opposite way when – or if – Jai Paul finally resurfaces.

Tags: Reviews, Ben Khan, Listen