Review: Calvin Harris – ’18 Months’

Hannah Crompton

Calvin Harris’ new album, 18 Months, has already had almost half of its tracks released in the UK, which in a way, makes it a greatest hits album before it has even hit the shelves.

It includes number one singles, We Found Love, featuring Bajan babe Rihanna, and Sweet Nothing featuring Florence and the Machine’s fiery redhead.

Therefore it may excite you when you see that there are 10 new tracks to discover, as well as the number of commercially successful artists who he has collaborated with on this album.

Who will be featuring on the album?

Household names include Example, Ellie Goulding and Ne-Yo, who are just some of the artists that have hooked up with the Scotsman to produce material for his third album.

London-boy rapper and rather dapper Tinie Tempah, features in Drinking from the Bottle, which is likely to be a hit because of Tinie’s previous chart success and heavy radio airplay with his singles Pass Out and Frisky.

Although it is assumed that two amazing musicians will produce the next chart topper, it does not always mean that it will be perfect.

Unfortunately, this is the case with We’ll Be Coming Back featuring Example. Instead of being a masterpiece, you’re given mundane lyrics and a repetitive backing track, which is a massive let-down.

Thankfully, Ellie Goulding’s contribution to I Need Your Love is actually quite commendable, even though her usual style is not dance music. It is certainly one of the better tracks on the album.

The best track on the album 

However, the standout track on the album is Thinking About You, featuring up-and-coming bass queen Ayah Marar. The up-tempo track (don’t assume that this entire album is, though), features a catchy beat and Ayah’s vocal performance is phenomenal.

Other tracks include Mansion, Awooga and Iron, which leave little to be desired in comparison to the tracks with featured artists. They do, however, illustrate what Harris can produce on his own, and he is great at composing dance music.

Like David Guetta, it seems that Harris has got swept into a ‘let’s-see-how-many-big-named-artists-we-can-get-onto-this-albums’ state of mind.

It would have been interesting to see a more individual-based album that reflects Harris’ talent.

18 Months is definitely worth a listen, it’s decent, but it just depends on whether you’re willing to buy into not a completely new set of tracks.

18 Months is out today and will be available to buy from Amazon for £8.99 from October 29 2012.