JENTL Pay Respect to Their Influences with the Premiere of “Relax”

As a musician, JENTL’s Darren Dominique Davis has taken a while to find himself but found himself he has with his bandmates and their new single. Today marks the debut of “Relax,” the brand-new single from JENTL. It’s an early look at their new EP, Title TBD, which will be released this summer. The dreamy soundscapes and smooth synths on “Relax” compose some of the core elements of Title TBD. The songs are built with a dance floor-ready foundation, an ode to the trio’s musical roots.

Davis, bassist Daniel Mehaffey, and drummer Jimmy Arvan were inspired by French House, disco, and soul-pop music, with polished and pristine production. Those sounds and styles find their way onto this new EP, a release they refer to as a journey through introspection and a celebration of self-compassion.

Discussing “Relax” and what it meant to Title TBD, Davis says:

“Yeah, so the first iteration of this song was called ‘Luv,’ and it took shape over four years ago as a sample-driven house track. When I met Daniel last summer, I shared a bunch of old demos, and this one stuck. His enthusiasm for the song inspired me to revisit the production and arrangements. After a few months, ‘Relax’ came to life. This song essentially set the foundation for the entire EP and informed a very intentional electronic/dance sound that I’d shied away from pursuing in the past.”

While you may assume that Davis has always been a House music junkie, that’s not exactly the case. His musical journey has been a multi-genre exploration towards finding his musical self. As a youngster, Davis grew up on rock music. His first real band was a progressive rock outfit called The Trimmed Hedges. Fueled by a real artistic flair, he moved from project to project, trying to find what felt right. Davis also fronted a garage electronic pop band called Dearling Physique, which received praise from MTV, comparing it to Toni Braxton fronting Nine Inch Nails.

Davis became more entrenched within the electronic scene in the early 2010s while living in Germany. He started a new project called Domino Davis, and his primary focus was writing electronic pop songs. He then moved to an R&B/electronic act called Forest Haze, which released a self-titled EP. JENTL is a product of all of this hard work and experience. It taught Davis how to write songs, even if his recording style is on the unorthodox side, with no real set formula. But it works, and that’s all that matters for an artist whose hard work is paying off.

JENTL “Relax” single artwork