Kaytranada's New Album is ‘Timeless'

‘Timeless' is Kaytranada’s (real name Louis Celestin) third studio album released on June the 7th and highlights Kaytranda's signature sound of punchy unquantized drums, big subby basses, mixed samples and overall groovy beats. 

The album has an impressive array of featured artists such as Childish Gambino, Anderson. Paak and Thundercat to name a few.

The album cover was shot by Jivi Emir who collaborates with Kaytranada often and is a sleek, timeless dramatic black and white  photograph featuring Kaytranada, which follows the pattern on his other studio albums - ‘Bubba’ and ‘99.9%’.

Kaytranada is a DJ and producer based in Montreal, Canada who rose to fame during the height of the SoundCloud era when his remix of Janet Jackson’s track ‘If’ caught audience’s attention, and then he went on to release his remix of Teedra Moses’s song ‘Be Your Girl’ which he still plays to this day at concerts and DJ sets. He also did a Boiler Room set which became viral in 2013. Kaytranada uses his many musical influences such as New Wave music and the producer J Dilla to define his own sound and style, which is now known as the “Kaytranada sound”.

‘Lover/Friend’ featuring Rochelle Jordan was the first song on the album released and features the smooth vocals of Rochelle, hard hitting drums, warm sonics and it encapsulates Kaytranada’s production style. ‘Drip Sweat’ featuring Channel Tres was also released as a single and has a J Dilla type drum beat and low vocals from Channel which act almost like a bassline. ‘Witchy’ features vocals from Childish Gambino and showcases the talents of both artists and is a fusion of R’n’B and house music. It themes around magic and being under someone's spell.

‘Hold on’ featuring Dawn Richards is an evolved version of Kaytranada's beloved sound which includes strings and synths filtered throughout and is reminiscent of his album ‘BUBBA’ released in 2019. ‘Dance Dance Dance Dance’ goes back to Kaytranada’s SoundCloud era and has a groovy break beat which leads the track and seems like an interlude. ‘Weird’ featuring Durand Bernarr oozes disco funk and is similar to '70s disco music and bands such as Chic but whilst still being quite modern sounding. ‘Out of Luck’ featuring Mariah the Scientist is the final song of the album and rounds the album off nicely. 

This album is soulful and every track compliments each other whilst having no overarching theme or genre as Kaytranada's fuses disco, R’n’B and Hip-hop effortlessly. The album blends together like a DJ set, and his time as a DJ has helped shape this. Kaytranada is playing at multiple events over the summer including Victoria Park and will continue redefining his discography and signature sound in future releases. 

Emily Bundock

@emsweirdworld

Image:’Timeless’ Official Album Cover