Calvin Harris released his latest album, Motion , earlier this week. Now that the record is on retail shelves, what do the critics think about the DJ’s latest musical endeavor?
Since Harris scored a hit with his club-friendly single earlier this year — “Summer” was as aptly named as they come — a lot of folks were more than a little eager to stuff the DJ’s new record into brains. Although the new album will surely appeal to hardcore Calvin Harris supporters, Time seems to think the offering is essentially more of the same .
Reviewer Nolan Feeney seemed to enjoy Calvin Harris’ Motion for the most part, though he believes the DJ is basically recycling “many of the same party tricks” once again. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, apparently the experience starts to get more than a little repetitive before long. That’s never a good thing.
“But hearing that approach 15 times in a row can be as exhausting as a wild night out in the club. For any producer trying to turn success behind the boards into solo stardom, making an album that’s both familiar yet not totally boring is an uphill battle…. But while Harris can carry a tune, he alone can’t quite carry an entire album, so he wisely stacks the album with an eclectic list of artists.”
However, Elysa Gardner over at USA Today enjoyed the record enough to dub it the “Album of the Week.” While Gardner doesn’t give Harris any awards for originality, his patented EDM formula and a slew of guest performers seem to get the job done.
“Harris’ textural savvy is evident throughout, if his methods are hardly novel. Arrangements spin, sometimes frantically — higher, faster, louder — toward the inevitable release, followed by steady, hypnotic beats. It Was You, with a haunted-sounding Firebeatz, offers a particularly bombastic variation on the pattern, with soft, ominous refrains that resolve in fits of thumping.”
Unfortunately for Harris, Idolator couldn’t find too many good things to say about the new record. In fact, reviewer Robbie Daw gave the album a rating of two out of a possible five. In short: The writer wasn’t overly smitten with the endeavor.
“Ultimately, Motion plays like a misguided effort cobbled together without much focus or ambition to push the envelope forward even the slightest smidge. For the first time, Calvin Harris seems strangely out of touch with the dancefloor, especially when this album is stacked against the current wave of far more exciting house music coming from the DJ/producer’s native UK.”
What do you think about Calvin Harris’ new album?
[Images via actualidadmusica.com and Music Row Girl ]
