Outasight's debut album,
Nights Like These, is an impressive feat of artful appropriation.
Outasight (known to his intimates as
Richard Andrew) and his large crew of producers and co-writers find inspiration in almost every big mainstream pop act that ruled the charts in the early 2010s. Over the course of a half hour,
Andrew channels the tunefully breezy songcraft of
Bruno Mars, the frat rap style of
Asher Roth, the giddy freedom of
Chiddy Bang (who guest on one of the record's best tracks, "Shine"), the jumped-up club beats used by everyone from
Taio Cruz to
Usher, and the dramatic techno buildups popularized by
Calvin Harris. The end result is a bright and shiny album that touches a lot of bases. ~ Tim Sendra