One fateful morning in the winter of 2017, EDM-pop maestro Calvin Harris woke up in a cold sweat. His head was pounding from the crushing bass thumps of his live show he had performed the previous night. He was having nightmares in his sleep- terrible images in his head of an evil army of robot Rihannas and Ellie Gouldings marching across the world to the grating electronic beat of his own "We Found Love." Or was it his own "I Need Your Love"? Or was it his own "How Deep Is Your Love"? Calvin shuddered at the thought of it. He thought back to how he had enjoyed making those songs, but after a while he realized something...after hearing the finished songs on the radio a total of two times, they started to sound...bothersome. What have I done?, Calvin thought. He put on some of Migos's Culture album and Caribbean Drake pop songs to calm him nerves. He thought on how he had another show to play to a robotic army of teenagers tonight. I can't go on living like this, he determined. And Funk Wav Bounces was henceforth born.
Ok so all of that didn't happen, but I can't imagine what happened in real life was that far off. For the past five or so years, Calvin Harris has squeezed every last drop out of his club-ready formula of rhythmic bass pumping and generic pop vocals. It's hard to deny that most of his long list of smash hits are quite rousing, in a mindlessly catchy type of way. But there must have been a point when he realized that today's new-age hip-hop could provide more substance to his pop sensibilities than the usual barrage of electronic noise and formulaic beat drops. Well, that and replacing those overbearing EDM synths with real instruments!
Ok so all of that didn't happen, but I can't imagine what happened in real life was that far off. For the past five or so years, Calvin Harris has squeezed every last drop out of his club-ready formula of rhythmic bass pumping and generic pop vocals. It's hard to deny that most of his long list of smash hits are quite rousing, in a mindlessly catchy type of way. But there must have been a point when he realized that today's new-age hip-hop could provide more substance to his pop sensibilities than the usual barrage of electronic noise and formulaic beat drops. Well, that and replacing those overbearing EDM synths with real instruments!
The production on Funk Wav Bounces is breezy, refreshing, and more organic-sounding than anything Harris has ever done. It's the vibes of a summer paradise compiled into audio form (just look at these Vevo videos!), and admittedly pretty much anybody could sound good over these blissful beats. But Harris notably got many of the hippest artists in rap to come out and do vocals, and they help make FWB a curious delight worth returning to. Look at that guest list- we've got Atlanta's hottest trap stars in Migos, Future, and Young Thug, along with Travis Scott, ScHoolboy Q, D.R.A.M., Nicki Minaj, Big Sean, and Lil Yachty. He even gets Takeoff to contribute, the third member of Migos who doesn't appear on "Bad and Boujee" or "Slide," and was last seen at the BET Awards getting into a fight with the English language.
It says something about the new generation of hip-hop that they can hop on a such a different style of music like this and still sound comfortably in their element. Quavo and Offset glide over "Slide" with such ease, you would think that the song was a deluxe track off Culture. On "Heatstroke," Young Thug does the same yelp/rap/sing routine he's done his entire career and he fits right in alongside Pharrell and Ariana Grande. The laid back, soulful "Rollin" could have been on Future's Hndrxx album. Elsewhere, Travis Scott takes his robo-singing to memorable new heights in "Prayers Up" (and also on "Don't Quit," the Calvin Harris track that was one of the few bright spots on DJ Khaled's latest other-people's-songs-compilation). Nicki's island-getaway jam "Skrt On Me" has to be the best song she's had in years. And Lil Yachty does Lil Yachty things on "Faking It." The songs here are evidence of rap's continuing evolution to a much more melodic and dynamic environment.
In the end this is still a pop album, and it's carried by the hooks. I'm happy to report that this time around for Calvin Harris, a "hook" is not 30 seconds of nothing but electronic squealing and bass thumps. No, it's actually the likes of Frank Ocean, Ariana Grande, Khalid and Katy Perry singing words in an appealing fashion! Revolutionary. The ten fun, laid-back tracks on Funk Wav Bounces combine to form that rare sort of mainstream pop album that's worth listening to outside of the radio or the dancefloor. It accomplishes all it sets out to do- be a funky, wavy soundtrack to a hot summer day.
By the way, Drake and Rihanna have to have a song on Vol. 2, right??
In the end this is still a pop album, and it's carried by the hooks. I'm happy to report that this time around for Calvin Harris, a "hook" is not 30 seconds of nothing but electronic squealing and bass thumps. No, it's actually the likes of Frank Ocean, Ariana Grande, Khalid and Katy Perry singing words in an appealing fashion! Revolutionary. The ten fun, laid-back tracks on Funk Wav Bounces combine to form that rare sort of mainstream pop album that's worth listening to outside of the radio or the dancefloor. It accomplishes all it sets out to do- be a funky, wavy soundtrack to a hot summer day.
By the way, Drake and Rihanna have to have a song on Vol. 2, right??