Kygo is undoubtedly a powerhouse in dance music today. His originality in arrangements helped him gain notoriety quickly in the American theater and his ability to infuse his unique style into tracks via remixes helped Kygo obtain superstar status all over the world. When Kygo started to produce original efforts, the jury was out for a bit. Everyone was curious to see if the master of the tropical house remix could in fact also stand out with his own productions. Obviously he succeed and Kygo‘s original productions soon surpassed his remixes in terms of recognition.
Can ‘Kids In Love' Live Up The Hype
In his latest effort the Norwegian producer took the route of an episodic release, dropping a single everyday over the course of the last week until the result was a full album. ‘Kids In Love' received a lot of advertisement from various celebrities including Vin Diesel who has been outspoken about his enjoyment of tropical house as a genre. The hype around ‘Kids In Love' was very real, especially when singles started to drop and massive vocalists were featured in many of the songs.
Focus On The Vocalists
Kygo tapped vocalists ranging from the indie all star Billy Raffoul to OneRepublic's near legendary Ryan Tedder. Kygo also featured vocalists who have established themselves thoroughly in the dance music world as well like Wrabel and John Newman. These artists helped Afrojack and Calvin Harris achieve chart topping hits respectively. It is not an exaggeration to say that all of the vocals on ‘Kids In Love' were flawless, just as one would expect. But do the productions meet the expertise of the vocals?
Overall in short – the answer to the question posed above is yes. ‘Kids In Love' is a solid and impressive album. While many have been a bit critical of the episodic release, it does make sense in hindsight. Many of the songs on the 8 track LP are entirely capable of standing alone. The noteworthy observation from the album is that Kygo did not go with one over arching sound. He plays with different genres, raises energy in some songs, while taming things down and injecting emotions in others.
A Roller Coaster Of Feelings
The one cohesive theme of the album is that of nostalgia. ‘Kids In Love' will take you back to Summer high school romances. It will lift you up with beautiful memories of young love when hearts beat quick and feelings were worn on sleeves. Only minutes later ‘Kids In Love' will drop you back down to earth while reminding you that many of these romances will remain only just as memories. Overall ‘Kids In Love' is a statement that Kygo is furthering his sound past that of just dance music. He has once again shown his fans and skeptics that his take on music is original, exciting and more than anything – memorable.
