Biography

Experiments in Plant-Based Music: Vol. I is Janssen’s exuberant and strangely assuring synthesis of those previously parallel domestic lanes, houseplants and a home drumkit. Inspired by the flora that reign on the ground floor and Mort Garson’s endlessly pleasing Plantasia, and conceived in the basement beneath, these 12 pieces of luxuriant pop — rooted in Steely Dan and synthesizer strata, Afrobeat energy and astral harmonies, Robert Hunter koans and righteous horns — offer new mantras for and prospective maps of our complicated lives. “From nest we fall in no time at all,” Janssen coos at one point over incisive funk. “Know that I got you, I got you.” “Influenced by a range of sounds that includes European dance music and the suave, sophisticated sounds of pre-New Romantic acts such as Roxy Music, the LP sets its sights on the carnal, the celebratory, the nocturnal and their intersections and departures." -- Pop Matters “It’s a by turns melodic, atmospheric and revved-up showcase of Janssen’s songwriting skills, with pop sensibilities that bring to mind French and British acts from Phoenix to Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark.” -- Food Republic “A crisp, psych-pop sound.” -- KCRW “A sparkling electro-pop wonder.” -- Paste “A sparkling cut of optimistic, wistful, stompy synthpop.” — Noisey “A well-crafted blend of glittery electro-pop and expansive psych-rock.” -- KEXP