Sharam Jey has a long and proud history in dance music. He’s never been one of those A-list names, but from the cooler blend of groovy trance he touted in the late ‘90s to the groovy house of Shake It in 2003 to the electro-disco of the mid-2000s up to his present day, he’s got a lot to be proud of. This is only his second album, and it sees him pursue the still vogueish electro/tech/disco sound of recent years.
It’s a pretty solid blend of cool vocal tracks and raw dancefloor material, with several memorable moments. Nik Valentino’s new romantic-ish vocals add bite to the drama of In My Blood and the dark-tinged riffs and moody chords of Sleep Walk, Princess Superstar does her usual tongue-in-cheek sauciness on Monday Morning – a stomping electro jam that Uffie should aspire to – and Tommie Sunshine provides an anthem in the form of The Things, sounding like a man half his age and creating one of the album’s best tracks. It’s got the electro-funk feel of Sharam Jey’s productions of old too, which we’re suckers for.
His love for Italo-disco is shown in the bold melodies of Dear Valentine, while club sensibilities are best displayed on the resplendent Unqiue, a twinkling, trance-tinged electro track that’s built for peak times. The arpeggiated, Moroder style bassline on Loving Me Loving U has been done a million times before, but it’s still got its charm, and with bolshy beats and synths pitch bending and bleeping in all directions, it makes for another slice of dancefloor melting gold.
It misses the mark in a few places – closer The More That I Do features a particularly naff vocal from Nik Valentino for instance – and strangely it somehow lacks a cohesiveness, but for the most part it’s a decent effort with some great moments.
[PREVIEW & BUY THIS ALBUM IN THE PLAYER BELOW]