Diplo

For all of Diplo's far-reaching eclecticism (how many other artists have released a gold-certified country/pop/trap crossover and an ambient album within months of each other?), he's aware of his lineage in the dance music world, and he's always demonstrated a reverence for the history of house music, having included classic tracks in his sets since the beginning of his career. He kicked off his 2018 set at Detroit's Movement festival with Derrick May's seminal 1987 anthem "Strings of Life" (mashed up with Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It," forming a surefire party starter), and in 2019 he launched Higher Ground, a house imprint with an aesthetic that's more inspired by '90s club culture than his Mad Decent empire. Diplo's self-titled 2022 effort focuses on tastefully produced dance-pop tunes generally more geared for the radio than clubs, and every song features guest vocalists or prominent vocal samples. Half of the track listing is taken up by previously issued singles, all of which reached the Top 30 of the U.S. dance charts. Two of the more successful ones, the 702-sampling "On My Mind" (with Sidepiece) and the excellent "Looking for Me" (a Paul "Special Request" Woolford co-production sung by Kareen Lomax), were U.K. pop hits, with the latter reaching number four and earning a platinum certification. They're easily two of the best songs on the album, although their inclusion is a bit redundant, since both already appeared on Diplo's 2021 EP Do You Dance?, along with a few of his other Higher Ground singles. "Promises" (another Woolford/Lomax venture) and the Miguel collaboration "Don't Forget My Love" are also highlights, both featuring strong vocal hooks and piano-driven rhythms that build up without getting over-dramatic. Crosstown Rebels founder Damian Lazarus and British duo Jungle add punk-funk bass and Italo-disco synths to the glimmering "Don't Be Afraid," while Aluna and Durante's "Forget About Me" is included in its "Nite Version," allowing it to stretch out compared to its faster, more compressed single edit. Some of the album tracks are more atmospheric, such as the simmering "High Rise" (featuring Amtrac and Leon Bridges) and the spaced-out "Waiting for You," a wild collaboration with Seth Troxler and Italians Do It Better's Desire featuring an extended spoken-word bridge and lots of dubby, fluctuating effects. A third Lomax-sung tune, the TSHA-co-produced "Let You Go," mixes ravey breakbeats and pianos with a slippery synth hook, resulting in EDM at its most retro-fixated. "Right 2 Left" (with Melé) constructs a tribal house banger using a sample of Busta Rhymes' "Dangerous," which ends up being a good idea, although it feels somewhat unfinished at only two and a half minutes. Still, the mixture of proper hits and slight experiments makes for a well-rounded album, and Diplo contains some of the jet-setting producer's best work since the Hollertronix days. ~ Paul Simpson