Fabiana Palla / Jai Paul - "I Care"

Jai Paul has returned with a new song and it's a duet with his protege Fabiana Palladino.

It's a great year to be a Jai Paul fan. After years of waiting, the elusive artist finally made his live debut at Coachella this year and followed it up with some headlining shows of his own (I went to see him play Brooklyn Steel). Now, the singer is back with a new track, his first since 2019, and it's a collaboration with Fabiana Palladino, daughter of famed bassist Pino. The two are no strangers to each other as Palladino had a track on the Paul Institute EP Summer 2020, the excellent song "Waiting" which I listed as one of the best of that year. Teaming up yet again, the duet is a super-chill, slow burner of a jam that oozes soul and sweet satisfaction. When speaking about the track, Palladino said:

I wrote this song on my Juno 106 one night at home and played it to Jai the next day. He instantly came up with a beat, and we worked together on the track from there. I’ve always loved those Motown duets with Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell or Diana Ross and wanted to create a modern version of that. We’re playing with the way those duets have this quite clear notion of romance, love and relationships… We’re subverting that a little to explore normativity in relationships. Musically, we’ve tried to put all of the beauty, excitement, and tension of modern day love into this song.

It's a sultry and smooth song driven by glowing synths and a grooving bass line that gives it a touch of funk on an otherwise ethereal tune. Paul's croon is as crystalline as ever, but the track could probably do with a bit more of a pulse. In just over four minutes, the vibe grows and stretches itself out to extreme pleasure, but never really changes course or does much to change things up as it strolls along. Regardless, the effortless nature still hits like a balm and gives some much needed grounding and meditative calmness.

"I Care" is out now.