In his marvel of a sophomore album, Kygo turns up the heat in the tropical house arena,
and the world, loveless or otherwise, basks happily in its warmth
Kids in Love (2017) by Kygo
K
yrre Gørvell-Dahll a.k.a. Kygo, creator and main star of the tropical house genre — a dance hybrid marked by a relaxed tempo (about 100 beats per minute, unlike EDM’s typical 120), feel-good melancholia, and tuneful grooves that evoke the feel of warm, bright locales — here opens with Never Let You Go (featuring John Newman), an earnest love oath that mixes easy rhythms, subtle drums and guitars, piano chords, and synth notes.
Sunrise (featuring Jason Walker) follows, with rich vocals, including a lush falsetto, evoking nostalgia and Kygo's sun-soaked roots (musically and otherwise, that is). Riding Shotgun (featuring Oliver Nelson and Bonnie McKee) treads lightly yet with strength, allowing McKee's vocals to soar yet still stay close, keep up, and steer up front.
OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder lends solid vocals to Stranger Things, a catchy pop puzzler — chanty but quite unpredictable, atmospheric yet subtle, and sway-inducing all throughout. Wrabel sings away With You, while Kids in Love (featuring The Night Game) ballad-marches toward a second-tier emo plane before jumping into the big, crowd-pulling chorus, repeating the cycle with a more decided flourish — clearly a Kygo masterwork. Permanent (featuring JHart), like the title track, speaks of a love shared in the younger days, which "for a moment there" seemed like a lasting thing. The soulful I See You (featuring Billy Raffoul) completes the album with the same laid-back energy and subtle precision that the genre gives nature to and its progenitor wields masterfully. This recording is a solid Kygo classic, one that will stand the test of time. (Radio-friendly Remind Me to Forget, with vocals by Miguel, features in the rerelease of the album.) 1
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