SJ Lewis: AudioLust & HigherLove album review

Play any music from SG Lewissecond album, AudioLust & HigherLove, And you may marvel the place you heard it earlier than. Goal or TGI Fridays? It may need been a curated playlist on Spotify referred to as “Good Vibes” or “Comfortable Beats”. I’ve heard that four-on-the-floor drum sample with glowing synths carried out not less than a thousand occasions, even if you cannot inform (nevertheless it’s in all probability a decade previous). asshole or disclosure Tune). The 28-year-old British producer-songwriter’s healthful mix of disco and dance music appears designed to attain summer time celebration music and the moments when he would possibly unflatteringly mutter, “My life is a film.” Like the remainder of Lewis’ catalog, AudioLust & HigherLove Effectively-executed and a variety of enjoyable, however the query lingers: What, if something, is so particular about his music?

Regardless of working inside a well-recognized paradigm, Lewis is greater than an ideal impressionist. He is produced for Dua Lipa, Jessie Ware, and Elton John, and his solo work seems like a successor to RAMAnd A combo of disco, home and clear brag-pop that fuses dwell and digital devices. In his first look in 2021, occasionsAnd He captured the spirit of the flamboyant and sultry dance flooring, spinning by means of a set of luscious hooks that hinted that this evening would possibly simply be… the evening. It was schmaltzy and generally ethereal, however Lewis’ pristine and savvy manufacturing made up for a scarcity of conceptual finesse. even so, occasions It usually appeared just like the work of a producer who was nonetheless forming an identification, a fan of Daft Punk and Pharrell Chorus from coloring away from the traces.

AudioLust & HigherLove Larger, brighter and extra assured than occasions, Their highs are larger and their lows are much less delicate. The songs are shiny and shiny, filled with vivid cinematic element: side-string vocals, dwell orchestral preparations, and kick drums so highly effective they’re pounding by means of an iPhone speaker. “Infatuation” and “One thing About Your Love” spotlight Lewis’ knack for crafting attractive, fun-filled pop. It is charming in its fusion of EDM beats with ’80s R&B beats. Each songs function Lewis as lead vocalist, a welcome wrinkle for the artist who preceded him I acknowledge Insecurity in his voice. On some songs, like “One other Life” and “Sadiq,” he is clearly nonetheless nurturing that confidence; His deadpan melodies and the phrase sound like placeholders for a extra assured singer. However then there are the choruses on “Oh Laura” and “Lacking You,” as he broadens his vary and lands on a pair of groovy melodies, proving his potential to single-handedly anchor an arena-sized pop music.

Lewis’ vocals are one of many few novelties AudioLust & HigherLove. The remainder is dense grooves and cabana jams, friction-free and grit-free. By the point “Plain Crusing” will get to greater than midway by means of the album, we’re already intimately acquainted with the phaser-filled intro refrain, stacked riffs, and processed vocals coated in gleefully light gloss. Evoking summer time breezes and romance, Lewis’ writing is as unforgettable as your fourth drink of the evening.

Lewis describes AudioLust & HigherLove As a understandable register in two legal guidelines: “AudioLust is the darker, edgier, mesmerizing, short-lived, vanity-driven model of affection,” he explains in a press launch. β€œThe second half represents a a lot deeper, extra practical, fuller model of affection.” However these themes β€” the lifeblood of mainstream pop – They’re introduced so usually that they’ve little consequence. Tove Lo Have a good time in a ‘drip of sweat'[ping] Under Your Chest Naked” on the primary album reduce “Name on Me” and afterward “Vibe Like This” Fortunate Day He admits he “by no means felt an environment like this / Perhaps it is well worth the threat.” The vibes are good, however the vibe is endlessly replaceable.

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