Chris DeLine

Back in 2009 Vic French connected with Jota Ese in Macomb, Illinois, where the two musicians eventually hooked up for a jazz project with French on sax and Ese on bass. From there a relationship with Ese’s Day Old Records was born, which is where French (now recording as Caveman the Wise) released his first album as a producer, dropping Android Blues in 2011. In addition to Ese, he’s since worked with the likes of Nashville’s Truth Clipsy, recently releasing “Birthday Cake” with the MC, but is now focused largely on his production-work as he looks ahead to his second full-length album, Wax Eclectic.

The first track from the release, “Harold of the Moon,” is magnetic, casually reflecting the producer’s laid back jazz roots, revealing itself slowly while wrapping a firm bounce around a wide range of audio samples running the spectrum from Nietzsche to Mad Men to Cowboy Bebop. “The rest of the album will certainly have similar stylistic roots as ‘Harold of the Moon’,” explains French. “But as the name of the album suggest[s], there are a lot of different genres that I tackle and infuse with my own character.”

Aside from splitting his time and performances between Nashville, Carbondale (where he’s attending school at Southern Illinois University), and his native Chicago, the producer intends on releasing the full-length Wax Eclectic November 3, which he ultimately expects to bear some 15-20 tracks. Until then, you’d also do well to check out the equally tranquil “Malice,” which revolves comfortably around a sexy vocal loop and piano sample.

[This article first appeared on Break on a Cloud.]