Chicago’s Jyroscope – consisting of MCs I.B. Fokuz, Collasoul Structure and DJ Seanile – and producer Montana Macks announce a collaborative EP, Happy Medium, out July 23rd. Today, they present the EP’s first single, “Frozen In Time,” alongside an accompanying video. Over the last decade, Jyroscope has recognized how difficult it can be to strike a balance between focusing on one’s craft, career, and the life responsibilities that come with putting down roots and starting a family. Happy Medium is a potent manifestation of that endless journey for balance. Over sleepy jazz samples, layered in well seasoned breakbeats, these tracks are born anew by Montana Macks. Collasoul and I.B. trade pointed verses about fatherhood, bills, the hypnotic self-erasing loop that is heading to-and-from the gig and blowing off steam with a beer or three before tomorrow means doing it all over again.
Preceding Happy Medium, Jyroscope released several projects including the Hip House mixtape, On The House, in 2016 and the bouncy boom bap-filled, MUTE EP. Happy Medium is the result of over a year’s worth of work that began with a wildly fruitful session in late 2019. They felt the title best reflected where they currently are as artists and people. With other obligations taking up more and more of their time, how much does making space for music matter in the big picture? At what point do the records start to count and people begin to truly take notice? How do you find the sweet spot, especially when little about life is sweet or easy? As I.B. Fokuz says, “As husbands and fathers, artists… asiatic men. The balance is defined by spinning plates. Managing the day-to-day with our families on our backs. A leap of faith is the dice we roll on our kitchen tables. Still hungry, still crafting our magnum opus. Still men of principle… keeping our worlds intact.”
In the percussive lead single, “Frozen In Time,” Collasoul raps “On the long road to peace baby we gettin’ all the best of it/ it’s scenic wit delicate petals/pedals and we don’t wanna step on it.” He elaborates: “The first 4 songs we created were seeds we planted prior to the pandemic. Those initial songs were actually going to be the full project according to I.B. and I, but Macks called me and said hey, I think something’s missing….He sent over ‘Frozen In Time’ and the moment I heard the horns on that beat I knew we had something special with that one. To me it sounds like we actually start working towards finding peace with the help of those calming horns.” Montana Macks adds: “I had a beat I was stashing for my next instrumental project, but thought it could round out this EP. I hit up Collasoul and pitched doing another song and he wasn’t terribly receptive to the idea. He agreed to listen to it and passed it along to I.B. Fokuz, I got a call probably 30 minutes later like, ‘say no more’ and it became the single.” The accompanying video, directed by Kory Stewart, was shot across the city of Chicago and is donned in a hazy, black and white filter.
Watch the Video for “Frozen In Time”
“Frozen In Time” is a first offering of the poetic rhymes and heart-felt imagery across Happy Medium. It makes for a captivating listen, one that is sure to have fans new and old itching to run it back well before the final note has faded away.
Pre-order Happy Medium EP
Happy Medium EP Tracklist
1. War Going On
2. Work
3. Auto-Pilot
4. Frozen In Time
5. Take It Easy
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Jim at Pitch Perfect PR.]