JDM Global is the alias of Houston, Texas-based singer and producer Josh Mehling, who you’ve probably heard of even if you don’t know it, as he is – or was – part of the band Shelly alongside, among others, Clairo (those others being Claud and Noa Frances Getzug). Together they released a two-song EP in 2020, with the lead track, ‘Steeeam’, approaching 80 million streams on Spotify.
As a solo artist, JDM Global plays a psychedelic pop sound that is tinged with funk, hip-hop and electronica depending on the song. ‘Dizzy’, one of his most listened to pieces, is reminiscent of Beck from the nineties, while in ‘Easygoing’ the melody of a colorful keyboard stands out. Because there is plenty of color in JDM Global’s aesthetic proposal.
It is also no coincidence that JDM Global has titled songs ‘Easygoing’ or ‘Go Easy’: their productions are relaxed and leisurely, summery. ‘Cake’, in a style close to alternative rock, also admits such qualifications. Even when JDM Global’s music sets foot on the dance floor, as happens in their latest single, ‘Wishes’.
In JDM Global’s music, psychedelia is dreamy, oneiric, never lysergic or dark. ‘Wishes’ brings this philosophy to a production that imagines what 70s disco music sounds like… in the future. It’s Song Of The Day today, Monday.
‘Wishes’ is a fantasy production, bursting with texture and colour in the production, which combines conga percussion with deep-house chords, and features, on vocals, the collaboration of Nigerian rapper Cruel Santino. Meanwhile, JDM Global sounds practically unrecognisable singing with a distorted voice. Welcome to the alien dance floor.
