Review: Calvin Harris’s Motion

Outside the context of the dance-floor, Calvin Harris's new album, Motion, is largely box-ticking fluff.

Motion album cover by Calvin Harris.
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Calvin Harris – Motion

Columbia

Two stars

When it comes to the dance-music midas touch, Calvin Harris is the undisputed king right now.

Currently the world’s highest-paid DJ – Forbes reckons that he trousers US$66 million [Dh242.2m] annually – he racks up number ones at a rate most international artists collect air miles.

His success-to-creativity ratio would make an interesting graph, however, given he's latterly been recycling the same hands-in-the-air Ibiza synth lines at the expense of the cheeky charisma within his early hits Acceptable in the 80s and The Girls.

Yet none of that matters to the hordes who lapped up his season-defining hit Summer, which forms the centrepiece of this fourth album. By the time listeners reach that peak, two other interchangeable chart-topping singles have come and gone: Under Control (featuring Hurts) and Blame (featuring John Newman).

Only Slow Acid really shows what Harris is capable of – tellingly, the slinky instrumental is a rare moment here not powered by guest vocalists (from Ellie Goulding to Big Sean). The lanky kid from Scotland has come a long way, but outside the context of the dance-floor, Motion is largely box-ticking fluff.

aworkman@thenational.ae