Review Summary: The perfect summer teaser.
As the New York electronic duo The Knocks embark on their annual tour of the year, they're standing by a motto that screams the kind of electric dance they've been building for over the last few years but also happens to be the name of their cross-country tour. That motto is echoed out in four basic, euphoric words; "Feel Good. Feel Great.". Simple in context, but definitely fitting in terms of the kind of mood and feeling their pop-influenced dance sound conveys. It was easily streamlined in their debut album last year with "55", an introduction slapped with star-studded talent such as Carly Rae Jepsen and Walk The Moon striding vocally across smooth, elegant compositions with a heavy pop touch. While this diverse duo isn't popular up to the levels of powerhouse players like Avicii and Kygo, these guys are on the rise, thanks to Justin Bieber tagging them for the European leg of his Purpose World Tour. They possess an excellent talent for creating positive, urban dance that gets you aching for the warmer, leisurely season of summer ahead. With their latest EP "Testify", it's another summery excursion, but in a evening, nightly atmosphere that will by its conclusion, have you feeling exactly what the motto wanted you to feel, word by word.
While this latest outing doesn't have any of the mainstream superpowers that bombarded all over their debut album "55", their less-recognizable roster of vocal talent still packs the punch all the same, if not better. It's highlighted in the glossy "Trouble", featuring indie songwriter Absofacto, a synthetic powerhouse of a track. Occupied by its bombardment of dreamy, heavenly synths and starry atmosphere, this feels like as if you're walking across a lively beach in Santa Monica, or in bustling Times Square on a perfect summer's eve. It's modern, stylish atmosphere is further pushed into immersion by Absofacto's gentle, light vocals that gives a serene feel to the already cool, neon tones this outing invokes. The biggest feature on this 6-track excursion happens to also be one who's been worked with the Knocks in the past, that being the lead vocalist of NY band X Ambassadors. With Sam Nelson Harris lending a hand on the lustful, seductive "Heat", his role is a damn fine one underneath this sparkling trip. His bright vocals are in sync with the hypnotic, fiery synths and booming bass that glows around it, feeling as if you're right next to your lover in a classic romance setting. Whatever the setting may feel like, ranging from small and intimate, to vast and metropolitan, the Knocks know how to fit that together with its identical themes of warm, indulging tones and sleek style to go along with it.
By the time you reach the liberating, dynamic conclusion of this short, but exuberant EP with the final outing "Lie", the Knocks' motto of "Feel Good. Feel Great." is surely achieved. It's a hell of a nice tease for the summer ahead, and one of the best new dance that is to offer in 2017 so far. It didn't matter whether the vocal roster was minimized significantly, or the seasonal compositions felt more suited for the night rather than by day. They stayed true to their pulsating musical formula and also kept the path of the positivity and celebration that's been a signature element of their sound from day one. It may be February and still so far from the end of winter, but the hotter and relaxing season ahead couldn't come sooner enough than it invokes in this summer teaser.
