Cashmere Cat - 9

Cashmere Cat
9
2017
Spotify

As Cashmere Cat Magnus August Høiberg has always found a balance between Dance, R&B, Hip Hop and Pop to form this sort of amorphous EDM that blends them all together. ON this new album 9 he goes all in with tons of big name features and a look at EDM after the drops stop working. The results are complex if not a bit misguided. "9 (After Coachella)" despite it's horrific name has some really interesting production as it glitches and clanks away, but like many of the songs on this record it never finds it's footing or a place it can truly rage over the top. It sounds to slight, to 8-bit for it's won good even if it is not technically an 8-bit track. The pacing is also really off on this record with the first song featuring Kehlani running under two minutes and not having anywhere near a point. "Wild Love" is similar in that the sounds are quite interesting but it is miles and miles from being melodic or something you could find yourself banging to over and over. Cashmere Cat is able to create a vibe of experimentation throughout the album but in doing so He makes his features absolutely vanish. "Wild Love" which features The Weeknd has his voice almost unrecognizable with effects and apparently Francis and the Lights was involved with the song but who the fuck knows where. TY Dolla $ign's feature on "Infinite" is decent but the track is so minimal and so disparate that you never find a place to lock in and get engaged, just like the rest of the album. In trying to be experimental and a pop album 9  actually fails at both.

"Victoria's Veil" is the only track without a feature and actually has a point of view and aesthetic, but the inclusion of a section of a song from the Alan Parson's Project feels forced and awkward. The entire album feels awkward like it's stumbling around to find what it is actually going to be. Selena Gomez lends her vocal to "Trust Nobody" but she takes an almost trap stance with her delivery complete with autotuned "no, no, no" which feels absolutely ridiculous. In looking towards the future of EDM Cashmere Cat has done nothing but muddy the waters. This came out in May of 2017 so at least we know it never caught on. Phew.

5.0 out of 10