Album Review: Calvin Harris Incites Global Warming With Summery “Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1”

There was no way to predict Calvin Harris would become the saviour of the summer (especially right in the middle of the Australian winter).

And yet, with his three-headed hydra of irrepressible 2017 tunes —“Slide”, “Heatstroke” and “Rollin’”—he single-handedly saved the southern hemisphere from having to deal with the woolly weather, warming our icy hearts with his cool island songs.

Well, okay, he didn’t exactly do it single-handedly.

Frank Ocean, Migos, Pharrell, Ariana Grande, Young Thug, Future and Khalid all lent a hand, and they were just the first sample of collaborators Harris had assembled for his newest album. Expectations were heightened. He promised the rest would include the “greatest artists of our generation”. They ended up being Katy Perry, D.R.A.M and Big Sean. No biggie. The album still bangs.

On Funk Wav. Bounces Vol. 1 (an unfortunately clunky title), Harris unloads his biggest bass lines and springiest synths, while his party guests give him their most carefree choruses and verses in years. Everyone from Migos (whose Offset shouts “good gracious” in delight on “Slide”) to Nicki Minaj (who quotes Shakira on the tropical “Skrt On Me”) is having the absolute best time. So is Snoop Dogg, on the breezy “Holiday”, though that’s to be expected. Snoop always brings the sun.

But who’da thunk Calvin Harris would be responsible for such a sunny, laissez-faire affair? Sure, he literally wrote the song on “Summer” back in 2014. However, more recently, he suffered as a very public Taylor Swift dumpee (and brief feud-ee), which he followed with melancholy, rainy-weather eDM hits “How Deep Is Your Love” and “This Is What You Came For”. No one would have begrudged his moody breakup album. (The blogs might have even preferred it.)

Instead, his newie opens with “Slide”—on Frank Ocean’s buoyant vocals, no less—and it sounds as if Harris has never been more untroubled. Highlights beyond the unstoppable first trio of singles include “Prayers Up”, with an uncommonly joyful Travis Scott, and sped-up slow-jam “Faking It”, with the unlikely combo of Kehlani (often so serious) and Lil Yachty (usually too silly).

It’s unfortunate that fourth single “Feels” had to break Harris’ streak. Its irritating refrain, delivered by Perry, is the bad kind of catchy. Thankfully, the album ends on a high, albeit the comedown kind: “Hard to Love”, performed by the record’s smallest name, Jessie Reyez. “I'd rather be hard to love than easy to leave,” she sings. Now this is the kind of self-loathing we were expecting!

Gone are the bro-y bass drops; in come the influences of A Tribe Called Quest, Dr. Dre and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (not to mention that other iconic duo, Hall & Oates). They make this Harris’ most cohesive and defining work to date. It may not be his personality on display, but it’s a personality, and a generous one at that, as he cedes the spotlight to his talented cast of rappers and singers. It’s the rare case of reflected glory being entirely earned.

Harris may overdo it on the tape-rewinding and thunderous reverb—and maybe he’s more comfortable deploying Caribbean rhythms than any Scottish DJ should be—but Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 is an easy, effortless listen. And at only 37 minutes, it makes you hungry for a Vol. 2.

4/5

Funk Wav. Bounces Vol. 1 is now available.

Photo: Columbia