Dance stalwart Tiesto has released his latest artist album, Kaleidoscope. Where some of his previous efforts had featured long-breathed trance anthems, this new record puts its focus on both more and shorter cuts (seventeen, in the physical format), and a wider collection of guest vocalists. There were hints of this trend from his prior album, Elements Of Life, but that balance seems to have now fully swung over to a new chapter for the former #1 DJ in the World.
The album starts off with the title track, a collaboration featuring Jonsi (lead singer of Sigur Ros). Although it might seem an odd pairing, it works surprisingly well. The track builds from Jonsi's strengths of haunting, falsetto vocals matched against an organically fractured but highly melodic background; and eventually transforms into Tiesto's world with a strong beat and enhanced sonics. It ends up being both a great album beginning, and a unique collaboration that hopefully can be explored more in the future.
Things take a sharp turn from there. "Escape Me" is an indie-rock-meets-dance track featuring vocals by C.C. Sheffield. Collaborations such as this form the core of the album. In albums past, Tiesto included a few select featured vocalists on tracks, but now that has become the bread and butter. The track is catchy enough on its own, but sounds like one of any number of crossover dance attempts already out there.
"You Are My Diamond" begins a decline in quality, sounding every bit like a generic club track. While fine for trying on pants at Hot Topic, it's less impressive as a musical statement. "I Will Be Here" adds a bit of grime and dirty beats, but ends up much like its predecessor, striving for a grating electro-house sound instead of aiming any higher. "I Am Strong" is yet another collaboration, although it's a worthy mid-tempo offering and helps bolster the front part of the record.
But this constantly shared stylistic direction with an ever-rotating cast of accomplices makes the album sound like something more removed from Tiesto as an artist than as a behind-the-scenes beat doctor. It sounds less and less like Tiesto and more and more like any number of dance compilations already on the market. Some collaborations work better than others, but after a while the guests come across more as a crutch for putting together a quick album than a necessity that helps make it a stronger whole.
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