EP is the first release by Manitobian musician Megumi Kimata under the name French Class. It has a charming and unruly quality typical of home-recorded, solo-electronic projects, but with an uncommon sense of structure that is almost masked by its intense (and intentional) adolescent aura. It's prickly, sweet-like-sourpatch-candy, and unwilling to relinquish the sense of imaginative possibility that the transition from pre-teen to post-pubescent tends to narrow. At the point at which EP dropped (Q3 of '19), Megumi didn't seem ready to give up her toys, which accounts for not only the pointy, polyurethane molding of the album's blunt and forward grooves but also its apparent weightlessness. Like time has been suspended for Megumi while she completes a magical quest. An adventure akin to soaring over a fairy kingdom, catching plumbs of marshmallowy smoke drifting up from villagers' cabins and molding them like wet clay into sweetly textured goodies for your ears. Her's is a process capable of constructing many timeless objects of fascination, from the bodacious beat-assemblage and sugar-dough roller "Robot Tune," to the electro-polka pogo and bulging balalaika bungee of "Clown City," as well as the ricocheting, Lego-cosmonaut soundscan "About Moon landing." As of last year, Megumi started working with a full band, making more formal-sounding R'nB and pop music, but you can still hear the imprint of her earlier playground antics on the disco-themed title track off the recent Hot Girl Summer EP, as well as the gabby and irreverent bounce of "Bon Bon Bon" from the same album. It's pretty clear that Megumi is going places with this project, and has progressed quite a bit in the last few years. Still, it's worth looking back to admire her past work, especially EP, as that is where it all started. Better jump in now if you want to take advantage of early enrollment, because French Class will only get more popular from here on out.
