Berlin duo FJAAK returns with first album in 6 years ‘FJAAK THE SYSTEM’ featuring Modeselektor, Skee Mask and more

Fuelled by the Berlin-based duo’s love of club music in all its forms ‘FJAAK THE SYSTEM’ is FJAAK’s most definitive album to date, a winding sonic odyssey that surveys the rave landscape, dipping between frantic euphoria and deep contemplation. Featuring sizzling collaborations with Modeselektor, Skee Mask, Red Eye and J.Manuel, the album draws a bold line under FJAAK’s 15 years of mischief and mayhem, pulling together 23 tracks (culled from over 300, no less) that truly reflect the duo’s boundless enthusiasm for the dancefloor. Grazing UK breakbeat, techno, 2-step, d’n’b, jungle, trip-hop and ambient, these elasticated, hybrid bangers paint a vivid picture of FJAAK’s utopian club ideal, a place where genre boundaries evaporate and only the groove remains.

Since graduating in audio engineering in the early 2010s, FJAAK have been challenging the logic of a maddeningly conservative club scene with their hardware only live shows, DJ sets a myriad of record releases. In 2019 they launched the label and platform Spandau20 with a steady flow of records and a mixtape series featuring new talent and established artists. With their rebellious attitude and notoriously energetic live sets, the duo have brought back a crucial lost ingredient to the rave: playfulness. And if their well-loved albums ‘FJAAK’, released on Modeselektor’s Monkeytown imprint, and ‘Havel’ set the scene, ‘FJAAK THE SYSTEM’ rises above and beyond expectations, creating a new benchmark. It’s not just blood, sweat and tears either, FJAAK’s advanced technical knowhow and love of synthesizers and drum machines helps them formulate a sound that’s conscious of dance music history, but focused on a brighter, more equitable future.

Fittingly, the album opens with ‘Unity’, a brief cry from FJAAK that urges listeners to overcome their prejudices and focus on the music itself. Then we’re thrown right into ‘And You Feel’, a searing blend of nostalgic pads, snatched diva vocals and factory-strength breaks. A conscious balancing act between tranquility and rushing adrenaline, it’s one of the album’s most unashamedly emotional moments. And by the time we reach ‘Redemption’, dynamism takes hold completely: ear-pummeling drums feed the soundsystem, and squelchy, acidic TB-303s twist into peak time. For FJAAK, it’s a track that confronts the harsh reality of a music industry that’s not always kind to artists, highlighting the relentless struggles in a furious rush of pneumatic kicks and a merciless synth throb.

The mood shifts into intricate dark territory when they team up with Modeselektor on ‘Horsepower’, a track that captures the giddiness of their studio sessions. A rush of stepped breaks, lysergic pads and untamed glitches, it’s a trip towards ecstasy that’s a testament to the four producers’ mastery over their craft. And on the energetic ‘Mechanic Love’, FJAAK examine the relationship between humans and technology wondering what impact an augmented reality might have on intimacy and companionship. Using wailing, timestretched voices and pounding kicks, they blur the boundaries between the organic and the mechanical, whisking their sonics into a passionate fervor. Elsewhere, they pause for breath on the blissed-out, aquatic ‘Glove Box’, and enlist Munich’s Skee Mask on the electro-tinged ‘Black Ice’, bringing in FJAAK’s former member J.Manuel to slow down gritty breaks into a contemplative whirl on ‘Wind Mill Hill’.

‘FJAAK THE SYSTEM’ is a rich, diverse statement from a duo who aren’t willing to rest on their laurels. While FJAAK always have one eye trained on the dancefloor, the other is always looking further inside.

Credits:
Written and produced by Felix Wagner & Aaron Röbig as FJAAK
Mixed by FJAAK
Cat. No. FJAAK010 – All rights reserved
℗ & © FJAAK 2024

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

IRELAND ALBUM TOUR – Spandau20 showcases
26 FEB – Factory nightclub, Waterford
27 FEB – Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick
28 FEB – Lola Montez, Sligo
29 FEB – DNA, Galway
01 MAR – Index, Dublin
02 MAR – Earth, Louth Drogheda

08 MAR – Kablys Club, Vilnius, LT 
09 MAR – One One Riga, Riga, LV
16 MAR – Nitsa Club, Barcelona, ES

US TOUR WEST COAST ALBUM TOUR
20 MAR – HE SHE THEY, Miami
21 MAR – Las Vegas, Discopussy
22 MAR – The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles – LIVE SHOW
22 MAR – WORK Warehouse, Los Angeles
23 MAR – Kremwerk, Seattle
24 MAR – Fortune Sound Club, Vancouver, CA

28 MAR – KALT, Strasbourg, FR 
29 MAR – Nordstern, Basel, CH – Spandau20 showcase
30 MAR – DGTL Festival, Amsterdam, NL
30 MAR – Spandau20@Ohm, Berlin, DE
31 MAR – R33, Mallorca, ES
06 APR – Maimarkthalle, Mannheim, DE
13 APR – Terminal V, Edinburgh, UK
19 APR – Audio Club, Geneve, CH
20 APR – Duel Club, Naples, IT
27 APR – Westhafen, Leipzig, DE
03 MAY – KM 25, Paris, FR
04 MAY – IOS, München, DE
10 MAY – Nuits Sonores, Lyon, FR
11 MAY – Praga Center, Warsaw, PL
18 MAY – Awakenings, Amsterdam, NL
19 MAY – Pollerwiesen, Dortmund, DE
19 MAY – After @ Junkyard, Dortmund, DE – Spandau20 showcase
01 JUN – The Crave Festival, Den Hague, NL
02 JUN – Polifonic, Milan, IT
15 JUN – Machine @ Razzmatazz, Sonar OFF, Barcelona, ES
29 JUN – LISB-ON- Fest, Lisboa, PT
05 JUL – Balaton, Sound Hungary
07 JUL – Awakenings Summer Festival, Netherlands
12 JUL – Wake Up, A Coruna – Granada, Spain
13 JUL – Code @ Fabrk, Madrid – Spain
27 JUL – Junction 2, London – UK
09 AUG – Boomtown, Hampshire, UK

All rights reserved. The musical contents may not be published, broadcast, or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission.