Another degustation of boundary-bending electronica from dance chef Arbez-Nicolas, AKA Vitalic. There’s some interesting, hip-dipping, foot-stepping fare between the lively amuse-bouche of opening track, El Viage and the syrupy celestial chillaxing of the last track, Don’t Leave Me Now.
Waiting for the Stars (featuring David Shaw and The Beat) is the chart-friendly single with its Bowie-esque ennui and chic groove. Levitation is steady trance-tech with an urgent wail and insect tics. It’s hard to top it in the tracks that follow.
Use It Or Lose It shimmies back in the direction of the dance charts; probably the track you’ll hear pouring from an open window at the lights one Saturday night in the thick of summer. Lightspeed is more interesting, with a nod to Lipps Inc’s melodic ‘80s ear-worm, Funky Town, above some sharp dystopic synth-decay and pulsing house.
Eternity is the epic equivalent of a slow-cooked turducken: a stellar, extra-terrestrial voyage towards a jaunty drop, which eventually leads to the succulent oily juices seeping from the roasted monster-egg. There’s a palate-cleanser in Nozomi’s deep-house style and the darkly-humorous Sweet Cigarette is a nocturnal traipse to compliment the meal before dessert.
Sounding a bit like Moroder, Cerrone, Lime, Spacer and Gino Soccio, Vitalic’s Voyager is a retro-futuristic cosmic disco of a meal deal.
By Jack Latimore
