Photo Credit: Mark Owens
Kx5 is a dynamic and inventive collaboration between two of the biggest names in the electronic dance music scene. The self-titled album features ten tracks that showcase both Deadmau5’s signature techno and progressive house sound combined with Kaskade’s melodic and vocal-driven style, to create a cohesive listening experience. Releasing a year after their debut as a duo with “Escape” featuring Hayla, this record houses five previously released fan favorites and five new listens. Each track is powerful, featuring dark bass lines, emotive lyrics, and stunning synth work. The personality of the album mainly comes from the unique mix of singers, each of whom brings a different sound to each song.
Although the album constantly utilizes bass drops and bouncing rhythms, it quickly sounds repetitive after a few songs. While the guest vocals do give each track some individuality the similar-sounding rhythms do get old halfway through the album. Each song seems to blend together with the only marker of a new track being a new singer. Kx5 plays it safe in that regard sticking to a tried and true melody, but it doesn’t feel like the long-awaited collaboration between two EDM powerhouses, it ends up becoming background music as you find something more attention-grabbing.
A pitfall of this release is that half of the songs are ones that have been heard before, and since most of the songs sound the same it’s an extremely disappointing listen if you were expecting something new from Kx5. It’s not to say that the album is bad, in fact, the high-energy rhythms and gritty baselines provide some depth and the end result is an enjoyable EDM pop mix, but nothing more.
The opening track “Alive” featuring The Moth & The Flame, entices the listener with some groovy synths and glorious drops, starting the album off with a bang. The seductive siren calls of Sofi Tukker guide you into the high-energy second track, whose techno-driven vibes are here to make a statement, this is Kx5. As the album progresses, the highs of each song are outweighed more and more by the repetitive beat, and the highs of each song are outweighed more and more by the repetitive beat. The rest of the album is filled with festival-ready bangers and club anthems like the international sensation “Escape,” but if that’s not your style, Kx5 slow it down slightly on the second half of the album with the sensual “Pwdr Blue” and “When I talk.” The two tracks mellow you out as you’re guided into electronic nirvana. Soon the beat picks back up like it never left, and the high energy returns closing out the album with an electrifying closing track “Unobsidian.”
Overall, Kx5 is an impressive collaboration between two EDM titans. The album showcases both deadmau5 and Kaskade’s strengths as producers but lacks the experimentation one would expect from these two. They know their strengths and refuse to stray from them. If you’re a fan of electronic music and want an easy upbeat listening experience, Kx5 is definitely an album worth checking out.
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