Jaguar Jonze is back in motion. The Taiwanese-Australian artist, aka Deena Lynch, has announced her second album ‘BEASTMASTER’, arriving January 29, 2027 via Nettwerk, alongside the new single ‘Kawasaki Ninja’.
The album follows a two-year hiatus from music after a life-changing diagnosis forced Lynch to contend with significant changes to her health and sense of self. Rather than attempting to return to the artist she was before that interruption, ‘BEASTMASTER’ finds her rebuilding on different terms.
That process began with rediscovering the pleasure of creating without being beholden to outside expectations. Across ‘BEASTMASTER’, Jonze allows contradictory parts of herself to sit together, moving between pop, electronics and more experimental territory while exploring identity, vulnerability, instinct and creative freedom.
‘Kawasaki Ninja’ provides a particularly visceral entry into that world. After her diagnosis left her unable to ride motorcycles, Jonze began thinking about what riding had represented to her and translated that feeling of freedom, speed and physical independence into thumping bass and warped electronics.
The accompanying video carries considerably more weight than its high-speed imagery might initially suggest. Filming it marked the first time Jonze had climbed back onto a motorcycle following years of neurophysiotherapy rehabilitation, turning the object at the centre of the song into something she could physically reclaim.
‘Kawasaki Ninja’ follows ‘Naked’, the jagged collision of pop and club textures that marked Jonze’s return earlier this year. She subsequently teamed up with Taiwanese-American artist KIRE for ‘HALF DEVIL’, turning her attention towards cultural identity and the complicated experience of growing up between different worlds.
Those singles begin to sketch out an album that sounds less interested in tidy reinvention than allowing Jonze room to move wherever instinct takes her. ‘BEASTMASTER’ isn’t about conquering the difficult parts of yourself so much as accepting that they remain part of the picture.
It is a significant shift from the world surrounding her 2022 debut album ‘BUNNY MODE’. Before that record, Jonze established herself through the ‘Diamonds & Liquid Gold’ and ‘ANTIHERO’ EPs, building a body of work in which music, visual art, fashion and performance frequently collide. Her 2024 ‘victim impact statement’ EP and accompanying self-directed short film pushed that multidisciplinary approach further.
Outside music, Lynch has become an influential advocate within the Australian industry while maintaining her work across photography, illustration and fashion. Her projects Spectator Jonze and Dusky Jonze sit alongside collaborations spanning fashion, art and major international brands, making the Jaguar Jonze universe considerably broader than music alone.
With ‘BEASTMASTER’, however, the focus returns to the simple act of creating after a period when doing so was far from guaranteed. ‘Kawasaki Ninja’ captures that return at full speed, not by pretending the past two years didn’t happen, but by making them part of whatever comes next.
‘BEASTMASTER’ is out January 29, 2027 via Nettwerk. ‘Kawasaki Ninja’ is out now.
