Photo: RCA
The fifth track on Timeless by Kaytranada is simply called 'Dance Dance Dance Dance'. It samples the 1977 Motown release by G.C Cameron, ‘This Will Make You Dance’. Presumably that's this album’s mission statement.
Kaytranada, (real name Louis Kevin Celestin), went viral on Soundcloud in 2013 with a remix of the Janet Jackson track ‘If’. Since then he’s won two Grammys, and a handful of trophies at the Polaris Music Prize and Juno Awards, two Canadian ceremonies.
This is his third album, and maybe his most ambitious. It’s a swollen 21 tracks, heavy with guest features, and a somewhat presumptive title.
Guest vocalists include Dawn Richard, Childish Gambino, Anderson Paak, and Tinashe. Tracks tend to orbit a four/ four kick thump, but occasionally mix it up: a high point on the album is ‘Drip Sweat’, featuring bassy crooner Channel Tres, himself no stranger to dance floor structures. The track layers a busy kick pattern over a classic drum break that originated in a Lynn Collins song, but it’s the repeating synth motif that’s most potent.
The consensus among commenters is that you know a Kaytranada production as soon as you hear it, but opinion varies on why that is. Some cite his flair for syncopated drum hits, or drum layering, or the way some of his beats lope, their elements intentionally sluggish.
These techniques trace back to hip-hop pioneers like J Dilla. To my ears the biggest clue is the kick drums, which, without getting too into it, are the kind you hear in hip-hop rather than house.
He manages to wed them with faster tempos and rhythmic flourishes without sounding overwhelming, impressive given how colossal they are, and how much sonic space they take up.
It’s undoubtedly good at getting one moving, but only time will tell whether Timeless lives up to its title. All those guests bring some pretty good hooks, and there’s the odd circuit-breaker, like ‘Still’, featuring fellow Canadian Charlotte Day Wilson. It’s a track that manages to be moving, in amongst all the rhythm.
