On Episode 498 of Switched On Pop, Carly Rae Jepsen opened up about her songwriting process. As a fan of her music, I found the entire discussion entertaining, as she is charming and thoughtful. The biggest revelation in the entire chat was how she viewed her craft. She came across as having very little ego, describing herself as a perpetual student of pop music. She realizes that she will never know everything about making music. And that keeps her perpetually seeking out new ideas, motifs, arrangements, and more.
That’s exactly how I think Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith approaches dance music.
Throughout this decade, KAS has created electronic art that runs the gamut. The Mosaic of Transformation in 2020 sounded like Suzanne Ciani making video game soundtracks. Her collaboration with Emile Mosseri – 2021’s I Could Be Your Dog – pulled heady ambient soundscapes from pandemic isolation. In 2022, Let’s Turn It Into Sound explored art-pop in the vein of Bjork meets Flying Lotus, while 2025’s Gush investigated bouncy electro-pop.
On her newest album, she reinvents classic dance genres for a new generation. Ruin: It’s Not Just Music provides a postmodern twist on ‘90s sounds like breakbeat, acid house, and jungle by employing a ‘20s hyperpop filter. Released on her own label, Someone Special, the huge sounds and very kinetic rhythms supply all manner of warehouse rave sensations. She cranks the BPMs to 11 atop propulsive beats with frenzied hi-hats and snare combinations.
And yet, the music isn’t about speed for speed’s sake.
KAS obviously wants to get you moving out on the dance floor, but she also doesn’t want to hit you over the head with obvious musical references. Instead, she balances the furious tempos with airy support textures, measured bass lines, and hearty grooves. I hear the footwork of Jlin, the skronky synth patches of Holly Herndon, and the jazzy chord work of Oneohtrix Point Never. Added all together, it’s Jamie xx on speed, thanks to choral samples, processed alto vocals, and pitch-bent airhorns.
The remarkable “Ruin” is a distillation of 2 a.m. decision-making, complete with rumbling car engines, keening vocal stems, and hellacious tempo. On “GTP,” the mood cools down, as minor-key synth melody lines provide essential melancholy to the album’s flow. With “I Don’t Know What Is,” we stand in the middle of the dance floor as everyone loses themselves to the hedonism of the moment. “That Is Like You” finds us driving around after leaving the club, wondering whether we should go to an afterparty, find some food, or go home to fall asleep.
Ruin is a diligent and fun amalgam of dance house bangers and headphone delights.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith brings all her unceasing ambition and musical curiosity to bear on this album. It feels like a strobe light in the middle of a grimy club. Everything is dark and foreboding in the shadows, but it’s also bright and electric at the exact right times. Moreover, KAS delivers a driving urgency to her music, even when slowed down. I’m agog at the level of forward motion on display, which gives the record’s retro-future vibes even greater depth and heft. This is the work of a perpetual student who always wants to expand her sound. However, she also loves to reinvent and reinterpret the work of the geniuses who have come before her.