As my first music post, I'll be reviewing and talking about Calvin Harris' latest album, 18 months. Filled with pop anthems, progressive house boomers and even one or two jazzy, soulful, yet garage inspired tracks. I really enjoyed this album, and found it much less disappointing than David Guetta's 'Nothing But The Beat'.
The track listing:
1. Green Valley
2. Bounce (Feat. Kelis)
3. Feel So Close
4. We Found Love (feat. Rihanna)
5. We'll Be Coming Back (feat. Example)
6. Mansion
7. Iron (With Nicky Romero)
8. I Need Your Love (feat. Ellie Goulding)
9. Drinking From The Bottle (feat. Tinie Tempah)
10. Sweet Nothing (feat. Florence Welch)
11. School
12. Here 2 China (With Dillon Francis, feat. Dizzee Rascal)
13. Let's Go (feat. Ne-Yo)
14. Awooga
15. Thinking About You (feat. Ayah Marar)
We've all heard Rihanna's massively popular addition to the world of House, 'We Found Love', on which Harris features. The song is included in his album, and whilst some may find Rihanna mainstream, poppy and tacky, the two come together to make a great club anthem, whilst sticking to Rihanna's R&B roots.
Before listening to the full album, I was impressed with Calvin's collaborations with Tinie Tempah and Example, 'Drinking From The Bottle' and 'We'll Be Coming Back' respectively. Being a fan of Example, I was easily drawn to 'We'll Be Coming Back', and the house vibes filled in the gaps for me. I loved Drinking From The Bottle as soon as I heard it - the poppy, yet urban rapping from Tinie Tempah, mixed with Calvin's great booming progressive house loops and basslines, made for an excellent track, which I have listened to again and again.
Now, there are more pop-oriented tracks such as Harris' collaboration with Ne-Yo, 'Let's Go', which I felt wasn't up to the standard of the other tracks, but would appeal to the more mainstream fan. However, 'School' was fun to listen to - not because of booming bass and fast mixes, but because of the fact that it sounds like something you'd expect to find on Amy Winehouse's album, 'Frank', but with Harris' house loops and the occasional garage vibe.
The tracks on 18 Months are mostly based around house, progressive house and dance-pop, with the occasional garage and dubstep vibes (school, iron), but it is original and uncommon enough to not be found on the latest edition of Clubland, except for the odd track or two, e.g. Let's Go. This album makes for a good night out clubbing, and will impress the regular house and dance-pop fan.
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