It is never less than interesting to watch an artist break out of a very specific subgenre and become embraced by a wider selection of the dance music community. Kaskade, a.k.a. Ryan Raddon, did the unthinkable four years when the guitar-laden "Steppin' Out," from his third album In the Moment, hopped a quick bus out of the deep house world and found a welcome reception in the unlikely worlds of dance radio stations and prime time beer commercials. It set up his move from deep house standard-bearer Om Records to dance superplayer Ultra, and 2006's Love Mysterious built perfectly on its predecessor, trading mild new electro influences with the soulful vocals that had become a mainstay of Raddon's singles.
A string of hits seemed to embolden Kaskade the DJ as well; his sets became peppered with far tougher jams than the west coast lounge scene he initially made his mark in would ever tolerate. He also wasn't afraid to play his own remixes of pop tarts like Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls for his underground-minded crowds. He more or less seemed to be declaring victory and saying, "Hey, I can do pretty much anything at this point!"
To that end, it is genuinely satisfying to see Kaskade remain firmly connected to the roots he so easily could have abandoned. If anything, Strobelite Seduction is closer to the deep house record Raddon made two cycles ago than it is to the globally conscious Love Mysterious. Gone for the most part are the guitars, as well as the male vocalists that made the last album's "Sorry" and "Stars Align" noteworthy singles. Haley Gibby is the breakout voice this time; her ethereal delivery sinks into the cushioned rhythms of first single "Move With Me" (purchase/download) (a collaboration with Deadmau5 that suggests the rising Toronto-based phenom owes more to Kaskade circa five years ago than Raddon does to the hotshot of the moment).
Gibby is also center stage on the album's other likely big hit, "Step One Two," (purchase/download) a track destined for an anthemic remix to propel its hypnotic chorus into the stratosphere. Elsewhere, David Morales collaborator Tamra Keenan (Kaskade memorably remixed the pair's "Here I Am" in 2005) adds diva sparkle to "Angel On My Shoulder," and Becky Jean Williams fronts the summery "One Heart," which evokes the In the Moment smash "Everything" without sounding like a retread. And while there is a mild "been there, done that" feeling about the record, Raddon's artistic versatility is on display via two downtempo gems that take Strobelite Seduction beyond the dancefloor. The standout album closer "Your Love Is Black" (purchase/download) dissolves in atmospheric strings and gentle Latin guitars that paint Keenan as a worthy contemporary of everyone from Roisin Murphy to Bebel Gilberto.
Overall, Kaskade's latest is something of a surprise, as all indications were that the bigger sound of his last album and subsequent (and current) DJ sets could have removed him from the deep house circle once and for all in favor of the big-room cognoscenti. However, in taking a step back, Raddon takes two steps forward: his original supporters will find much to cheer about on Strobelite Seduction, and newer converts get a record that doesn't sound like anything his more recent contemporaries are putting out.
Released June 3, 2008 on Ultra Records
