If you know JakoJako from the techno floor, don’t expect the same energy on her latest album, Tết 41. This is music you put on to slow down and drift away—a trance-inducing journey of harmonic and melodic beauty that showcases a confident, focused, and mysteriously powerful blend of experimentalism with emotional resonance. The album was recorded during, and named after, the Tết Lunar New Year celebrations, Vietnam’s most important holiday, when the streets are filled with flowers, the lingering smell of food, colourful lion dances, fireworks, lively parades and “Lì xì”, red envelopes of lucky money. Inspired by the Vietnamese language and the country’s pace, Tết 41 is bookended by field recordings from the festivities. The sound is a captivating vehicle for escapism. Known for her pulsating techno sets and modular synth performances, this deep, textured journey is a testament to JakoJako‘s versatility as an artist. 

Sipping Kumquat Soda

For JakoJako (born Sibel Koçer), Tết 41 is more than just another album—it’s a journey to her Vietnamese roots. Her mother was born in Vietnam and grew up in Laos before moving to Germany at 17. While JakoJako doesn’t have close family ties to Vietnam today, her family home was influenced by her mother’s heritage, woven into everyday life through language, food, and everyday customs. By travelling to Vietnam—and processing it sonically—JakoJako wanted to consciously explore these connections: “I wanted to understand why certain things were done at home, why we have certain traditions, and get closer to it.” Travelling with her mother during Lunar New Year and experiencing their heritage together added emotional depth to the trip: “It’s different being somewhere with your mum, it brings another layer of meaning.” 

However, JakoJako is hesitant to label the album as or even influenced by “Asian” music. The melodies subtly reflect the five-tone scale common in many styles of East Asian classical, folk, and ceremonial music, but remain rooted in her unique voice and position as a visitor rather than a native. Instead of taking over traditional sounds, she focuses on processing her personal experiences through sound, like musical postcards of fleeting moments: sunsets, flowers, scents lingering in the air; sonic snapshots of her experiences crossing Vietnam’s iconic Dragon Bridge or sipping kumquat soda. “It’s like memories preserved in melodies”, she says. “When I hear certain tracks, I know exactly what I experienced that day.”

Photo by Katja Ruge

“I wanted to collect the atmospheres of Vietnam, and strip it back to my language: electronic music. I don’t have huge ties to the traditions of my Vietnamese family, so being able to experience them with my mother, and then bring the Lunar Celebration—the colourful flowers, food and customs—back to Europe through music has helped me realise how important this side of my heritage is.” – JakoJako (Bandcamp)

Back to Basics

If you’ve ever met JakoJako or seen her perform, you’d know she’s what one might lovingly call a gear nerd. A self-taught producer, talking modular synths is practically her native tongue. Tết 41 showcases mastery of tools: a Eurorack, Waldorf Iridium Core, and a laptop—all packed neatly into one suitcase for a two-month trip to Vietnam. This stripped-back setup forced JakoJako to rethink her creative process: “I had to pack light—cables alone take up so much space—and focus on my favourite tools,” she recalls. Without her usual studio comforts, she rediscovered the creativity of working with limited resources. “You have to be imaginative when you don’t have everything at once. You record one sound, remember the settings for later, and build layer by layer. It felt like going back to how I started, with less gear but lots of imagination.”

The limiting conditions she experienced—unreliable power supply and limited access to equipment— contributed to shaping the album’s sound and ethos. “In Berlin, there’s always this hustle mode, this energy of needing to show up everywhere and keep up with the pace,” she explains. “In Vietnam, that pressure fell away completely. I was officially on holiday, no emails or calls. The tempo was slower, everything felt more communal.” 

JakoJako‘s journey into electronic music started in Berlin’s club scene before evolving into an obsession with understanding how these sounds were made. Still, despite the endless hours spent perfecting her craft and a career as an internationally renowned techno DJ, she admits to occasional impostor syndrome; how she used to be overwhelmed by the fact that music was now her profession. “I felt it didn’t affect other people’s lives as much as my work as a nurse [JakoJako’s former job]. But with time, and people telling me how a particular track or album helped them through difficult times, I realised that it had an emotional impact on people that I never thought it would,” she reflects.

Photo by Katja Ruge

A Tightrope Walk 

JakoJako’s career is a delicate balancing act between DJing, live performances, and producing. “I’ve never had just one job—I get bored too easily,” she laughs. “Music is similar for me; I need variety to stay engaged.” While DJing brings financial stability and live sets fuel her creativity, production remains her core passion. “Live sets require a completely different energy than a closing techno set,” she says. “But they all feed into each other somehow.”

Her collaborations, like her joint performance with the Detect Ensemble at the innovative classical music festival, Beethovenfest, or her project with the contemporary dance group Infinitum, are where she feels most artistically fulfilled. “Those projects don’t pay the bills, but they feed my soul.” In other words, it’s a tightrope walk between stable finances, personal and artistic development, and contributing to a healthy ecosystem for dance music culture by collaborating with artists and collectives on the fringes. JakoJako knows the importance of not just chasing the next big gig, but instead engaging with the scene beyond solo performances. “I respect techno—it was my entry point into music—but I struggle with ego-driven DJs who just take without giving back.”

Released on the esteemed Mute label, Tết 41 adds to JakoJako‘s string of landmark achievements in the world of electronic music. Whether you’re sipping a kumquat soda or daydreaming about faraway places, this record is sure to leave its mark.

JakoJako’s album Tết 41 is out now via Mute. Stay up to date with JakoJako via her Instagram.
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