ALBUM REVIEWS
CALVIN HARRIS Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 Columbia Records
A photo of a sun-kissed, empty beach is on the front of DJproducer Calvin Harris’s new CD and there’s a palm tree on the back. That’s appropriate for what is a strong contender for album of the summer.
The 10-track Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 is a slick triumph for Harris, who has brought 21 of his superstar friends along to make a CD as cool as a Popsicle and as sticky as a poolside cocktail. “Release, let go, and have a good time,” is a lyric that sums up the record.
It kicks off with Slide, featuring a moody Frank Ocean and the hotter-than-hot group Migos. The gorgeously layered song signals Harris is pushing beyond previous club hits like This Is What You Came For.
If we’re judged by the company we keep, then Harris is a musical magnet. In addition to Migos and Ocean, the album also features Future, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Big Sean, John Legend, Khalid, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Lil Yachty, Young Thug, Snoop Dogg and two appearances by Pharrell Williams.
An album with so many guests would presumably topple over, but somehow Harris weaves all the voices, styles and grooves into a coherent, breezy hip-hop and EDM tapestry. It recalls Moby’s 1999 monster hit-collection Play — the last time an insular techno techie became a bona fide music god.
Heatstroke, with Grande turning her angel voice up to 11, is pure shimmering pop, and Rollin is a hypnotic slow jam, combining Khalid’s soulfulness, Future’s unique rap style and little electronic shards that Harris scatters across the album. Minaj goes Caribbean flirty in Skrt On Me, and Jessie Reyez turns in a great Hard to Love.
THE NEW ZEITGEIST Myths and Mortals The New Zeitgeist
Many of the lyrics on Myths and Mortals date back more than a century, which is why the New Zeitgeist is singing of fairies, fables and linnet’s wings. This is real roots music that connects Dublin and Austin. The Chicagobased duo Jen Reilly and Eddy Bluma pair original material with poems by W.B. Yeats, Carl Sandburg, William Allingham and Sidney Lanier, and they make the words sing. It helps that Reilly could win a Kathy Mattea impersonation contest — her sturdy alto matches the material. Bluma’s guitar and a supporting cast that includes Lloyd Maines on Dobro and pedal steel deftly straddle musical genres. There’s a hint of the blues on Looking Glass Man, while Peter Pan’s Remorse conjures druids. Desert Rose gives a country waltz an Irish lilt, and Kingdom Highway is Gaelic gospel. It all makes for an enchanting mix like nothing else being heard in roadhouses or pubs.
Calvin Harris weaves all the voices, styles and grooves into a coherent, breezy hip-hop and EDM tapestry.