Marjen is a producer from Saskatoon who first came to our attention last December when he was part of the drmn album, which featured four different producers from around the world, all contributing one fifteen-minute track apiece. Marjen now comes back with a new EP that’s all him, Dirge.

Instrumental hip hop EPs are a dime a dozen these days, and most of them are good, but ultimately forgettable. That’s why it’s always nice to here an EP like Dirge and immediately get drawn into the music. When you listen to the opening track, “Raise the Curtain,” Marjen establishes the melody and bass line right away, with electric piano giving a soothing tone to the song before the drums kick in. After this is established, Marjen introduces a counter melody via what sounds like a really old upright piano, playing in a higher register than the initial motif. Not only is Marjen building and layering and creating melodies that will stick in your head, he’s also creating compositions that transition smoothly into the next track so that the whole EP feels like one artistic statement. We do get two vocal appearance from a couple of Saskatoon artists that are very different from each other. Emcee Skizza hops on the mic to drop some abstract imagery, which paired with the dark, minimal tone of Marjen’s production makes from some nice backpack rap. The real gem comes with Marjen’s collaboration with Bex. The soul singer has a great voice, and her melodic instincts just have great chemistry with Marjen’s production, who puts in this keyboard melody that is only a few notes, but plays off Bex’s vocal lines in some really compelling ways.

Dirge might look fairly simple on paper, but in practice it’s a very well thought out piece of art that is deceptive in its complexity. It’s a beautiful collection of songs that come together to form something that’s greater than the sum of its parts.