"Jailbreak the Tesla": Injury Reserve ft. Aminé
Production: Dylan Brady
Album: Injury Reserve
Despite being aware of Injury Reserve’s reputation for experimental production, ‘Jailbreak the Tesla’ caught me off guard. The track begins with the rounded, chimelike tone of the mbira (also known as the kalimba or thumb piano), mimicking ‘Tokyo Drift’ from the soundtrack of the third Fast and Furious film. The attention of the listener is then maintained by the up-tempo looping of the three first notes, building a sense of anticipation for the rest of the track. Later incorporating a heavy bass, distorted vocals and the sound of cars screeching, the song’s production pulsates with the same rebellious energy as the lyrics.
There is something alluring about the childlike playfulness and superficiality of dedicating an entire song to imagining jailbreaking a Tesla. Whilst there is no deeper meaning behind lyrics such as ‘Your engine go ‘vroom’ and my engine go- / Elon on them shrooms / And Grimes’ voice gon’ be the GPS’, it never feels like the track is trying to evoke anything other than infectiously chaotic excitement in the first place, which it most definitely succeeds in doing.