Launched as an electro-dancehall act fronted by a fictional Jamaican comic book character who comes from outer space, no one should have expected that Diplo's Major Lazer project could grow and expand artistically.
Still, this third album surprises with its weight and, more than anything, subtlety as three of the best numbers are ballads.
Best of these slow burners is the big hit "Lean On," where vocalist MØ and guest producer DJ Snake help deliver the sentimental lyrics and sensual house music at an intoxicating half-speed tempo.
The cooled opener "Be Together" with Wild Belle feels like Macy Gray stole one of Sia's better songs and it somehow ended up here, and then there's the closing "All My Love" with Ariana Grande and Machel Montano, which raises the temperature a bit, but the Hunger Games: Mockingjay soundtrack cut appears here in a beat-dropping remix that could sneak onto any Jennifer Lopez album it chooses.
Diplo should also get some kind of collaborative genius award for pairing Ellie Goulding with reggae's current cool ruler Tarrus Riley on the uplifting and aptly titled "Powerful." This chilled quadrilogy is surrounded by the usual bass, beats, and bonkers attitude, like the mighty "Roll the Bass," which offers EDM, moombahton, and trap in one herky-jerky package.
Reggae tracks "Too Original" with Elliphant and Jovi Rockwell plus "Blaze Up the Fire" with Chronixx help pull the album back toward Major Lazer's original concept, and if nine tracks seems a little too short, these are all tracks that are worth revisiting.
Consider it the slow and softer Major Lazer album that's built for headphone listening, but most of all, consider it.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Be TogetherWild Belle, Andrew Swanson | Major Lazer | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 2 | Too Original | Major Lazer | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 3 | Blaze Up the Fire | Major Lazer | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | Lean On | Major Lazer | Play | 02:56 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 5 | Powerful | Major Lazer | Play | 03:26 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 6 | Light It UpD. Alexander Malcom, T-Baby | Major Lazer | Play | 03:18 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 7 | Roll the Bass | Major Lazer | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 8 | Night RidersAndrew Swanson | Major Lazer | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 9 | All My Love | Major Lazer, Ariana Grande | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 32 mins | 73 MB | |||||
| 32 mins | 232 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 Chainz | Featured Artist |
| 2 | Jr. Blender | Additional Production, Instrumentation, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 3 | Chronixx | Featured Artist |
| 4 | Rich Costey | Mixing |
| 5 | Dark Art | Mixing |
| 6 | Diplo | Instrumentation, Producer, Programming |
| 7 | DJ Snake | Featured Artist, Producer |
| 8 | Elliphant | Featured Artist |
| 9 | Ellie Goulding | Engineer, Featured Artist |
| 10 | Ariana Grande | Composer, Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 11 | Tom Hough | Vocal Engineer |
| 12 | JSTJR | Programming |
| 13 | Mad Cobra | Featured Artist |
| 14 | Major Lazer | Primary Artist |
| 15 | D. Alexander Malcom | Composer |
| 16 | Manny Marroquin | Mixing |
| 17 | Philip Meckseper | Engineer |
| 18 | MØ | Featured Artist |
| 19 | Machel Montano | Featured Artist |
| 20 | Sonny Moore | Additional Production, Guitar, Programming |
| 21 | Nyla | Featured Artist |
| 22 | Picard Brothers | Guitar, Producer, Programming |
| 23 | Pusha T | Featured Artist |
| 24 | Ricky Remedy | Instrumentation, Mixing |
| 25 | Tarrus Riley | Engineer, Featured Artist |
| 26 | Todd Robinson | Mixing Assistant |
| 27 | Jovi Rockwell | Featured Artist |
| 28 | Anthony Rotella | Mixing |
| 29 | James Royo | Mixing |
| 30 | Travis Scott | Featured Artist |
| 31 | Andrew Swanson | Composer, Producer, Programming |
| 32 | T-Baby | Composer |
| 33 | David Taylor | Additional Production, Mixing |
| 34 | Ticklah | Instrumentation |
| 35 | Boaz Van De Beatz | Instrumentation, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 36 | Walshy Fire | Vocals |
| 37 | Wild Belle | Composer, Featured Artist, Instrumentation |
| 38 | Wiwek | Additional Production, Programming |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |