Quick-footed ladies’ man Usher did a very clever thing with ‘Climax’, the Diplo-produced first single from his seventh studio album Looking 4 Myself. With little more than an electronically-backed falsetto, he confidently put a stop to hacks like myself referring to him as a “quick-footed ladies’ man”. From now on, it’s “three-octave man-diva” or nothing.
On the gut-yanking ode to a floundering romance, he delivers a vocal so fearlessly big and booming, you can’t help but take note. It’s like he’s saying, “Here I am, making a sound that only I can make.”
According to the press release, Usher went to Ibiza, Coachella and other assorted hipster hangouts in search of a groundbreaking new dance pop sound. Instead, he came back with a handful.
‘Uptown Girl’-sampling opener ‘Can’t Stop Won’t Stop’ is the closest we get to the partially-thrilling, partially-yawnsome material on last album Raymond Vs Raymond, until, of course, a grumbling Skrillex-esque dub breakdown throws us all for a loop. From here on, it’s plot twist after plot twist, with Empire Of The Sun man Luke Steele even popping up on the album’s title track. Mixing ‘80s electro wallops with Drake-esque moans and groans, it’s one of the album’s most unexpectedly impressive moments, along with stark synth ballad ‘What Happened To You’, Eurotrash club stomper ‘Euphoria’ and Salaam Remi collaboration ‘Sins Of My Father‘.
‘Twisted’, a Neptunes-produced retro-styled James Brown-esque triumph, is another chance for Usher to show off his staggering, feral voice, while ‘Dive‘ finds him harmonising with himself to gorgeous effect against a mess of thundering strings.
The eye-roll-inducing Usher trademarks are still here, the breathy chants of ‘Ursher, Ursher’ and the rather annoying punctuation of four as “4” and you as “U”. That said, the provocatively-titled ‘Scream‘ is a perfect example of the tail-shaking power of combining some fairly brave musical experimentation (in the pop sphere at least) with the sky-scraping talents of a seasoned star.
“Life is all about finding the tempo...” Mr. Raymond told Hot Press last year, when his “rev pop” sound was still in its infancy. Sounds like he’s found it.