Kevin Bronson on November 20th, 2019

0

A year and a half since their mind-bending, circuit-frying debut, Wajatta are back for Act 2, cementing a partnership that is perhaps one of the most unlikely collaborations in music history.

Wajatta combines the talents of beat-boxer/comedian/musician/font-of-everything Reggie Watts and veteran electronic DJ/producer John Tejada. The name (pronounced wa-HA-ta) is a mash-up of the duo’s last names. The music is a mash-up of almost everything else — language, melody, beats, whimsy.

This week, the duo announced that their sophomore album “Don’t Let Get You Down” (no, there’s not a word missing there) would be out Feb. 28 via Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label. The title track, Watts says, is “the poppiest song we’ve ever done,” and it’s true, from the whistled hook at the beginning to the smooth, elastic beat. Elevator music for a bounce house.

The album announcement notes that “Don’t Let Get You Down” has nods to Balearic house music, ’80s hip-hop, slow-jam R&B and Chicago house (there’s a tune called “138,” named for its BPM), all products of the duo’s spontaneous studio sessions.

||| Stream: “Don’t Let Get You Down”