Canadian rave pioneer Tiga Sontag has a new album out, but he’s not sure that the world needs more albums. Asked in a recent interview with Thump whether albums were still relevant, he replied, "They don’t even matter to me anymore." It could have been a tossed-off or ironic remark; it’s hard to tell. But it’s easy to trace a path between Sontag’s blasé attitude regarding the long play and the shortcomings of his new record, No Fantasy Required.
A veteran of a half-dozen different styles, Tiga has never shied away from trying new sounds. But here, it’s as if he’s can’t find anything that fits comfortably, and from track to track you can feel him rejecting any kind of consistency. As a result, a good portion of the tracks here fall short of the high standards he’s set for himself with his past work. In some ways, the new record is reminiscent of Sontag’s first solo album, Sexor, another fidgety collection of tracks that couldn’t sit still long enough to relax.
That’s not to say there are not some glorious productions on the album. "Having So Much Fun," one of the three terrific tracks here co-produced by Matthew Dear, is a strutting, vintage, electro banger, with steeplechase bass and whistles tailoring an immaculately structured, wryly romantic song. The first two songs on the album "No Fantasy Required" and "Make Me Fall In Love," are gorgeous R&B-tinged electropop, recalling the best work of Hot Chip.
Dear once described Sontag's style as more disciplined and scientific than his own. But their differences seem to help Tiga locate his own personality; as an accomplished remixer, he’s used to expressing himself through the work of others. On No Fantasy Required, he never seems more present than on the Dear co-production "3 Rules," where his love of bass thump and sly sense of humor shine most brightly, particularly during the track’s witty coda.
It’s on the back half that Tiga seems to withdraw from his own album, his sense of humor curdling. Three singles in a row, two of them previously released, weigh down the album, starting with the "Planet E" a much-anticipated collaboration with fellow club bombardier Hudson Mohawke that feels inexplicably tame. "Plush," a version of which was originally released in 2012, is a stylish production, but it sounds claustrophobic sandwiched between two bigger songs here. And there’s no bigger disappointment than the transformation of "Bugatti" (originally released as a single in 2014, featuring Pusha T). It’s elongated on the record, and without Pusha’s snarling ostentatiousness ("Tiga me amigo, we both follow that G code"), there’s no foil for Sontag’s chillier sneer.
That previously successful singles feel stale when forced into position on the album underscores the difficulty of pacing these things. Fifty minutes of music from the same producer is difficult to make interesting without a lot of thought given to pacing and cohesion. In the Thump interview, Tiga said that albums allow you to "release different styles of music" and provide "a nice platform for experimentation." Neither of those statements sounds like it comes from a producer who’s particularly interested in the elements that can make these collections special, nor does No Fantasy Required.
