As algorithmic curation increasingly directs the way we listen, the dark art of opening an album brilliantly is poised to be lost in the mists of time.
However, sometimes - bang! - we get a bolt from the blue to remind us how much fun it is when a record comes out swinging. Welcome is one such opener: a shining, searing, soaring gem about the joys of domesticity.
Absent an algorithm, a sense of curation pervades Wild World. Guest Guilty Simpson's appearance on Late Night is a good example. Simpson is sometimes guilty of lax delivery, leaning heavily on a style he perfected a decade ago, but here he is challenged and stretched beyond what we've previously heard from him; more chilled than ever and this sound suits him. Remi's performance on Wild World is stunning. Like Simpson's, his performance is at once relaxed and full of purpose.
Creating (or curating) an atmosphere is no easy feat. With this album, Space Invadas have created a (wild) world in which their guests are free to explore the mood laid out for them, whether this be the pressing urgency of Satelite (sic), or the gentle sway of Don't Ever Look Back. Well worth a listen.
