Despite a schedule packed with twerk wall evangelism, Twitter explosions, boat party planning, and his usual full slate of remixes and production credits, Diplo somehow found time for two separate longer-form releases last year. His sophomore effort behind the boards as cartoon commando/cyborg Major Lazer, Free the Universe, found the producer and partners Jillionaire and Walshy Fire spreading themselves too thin and sacrificing any chance at cohesiveness in the name of versatility. An autumn EP under his own name, Revolution, was stuffed to the gills with satisfying drops, but felt more like a grab-bag of trend-riding cuts than a thematically sound articulation of his strengths. Never one to rest on his laurels, he’s already back with another EP, this one back in the guise of Major Lazer; Apocalypse Soon, like its predecessors, is rich in guest stars and attempts to bring nuclear-level energy to the world’s dance floors.
While Major Lazer’s primary incarnation—one that included fellow DJ/producer Switch and hype man extraordinaire Skerrit Bwoy—was rooted in the export and steroidal electro-amplification of Jamaican dance music, the purity of that concept has long since been diluted, and Apocalypse Soon doesn’t mark a return to any such thematic consistency. Its opener, “Aerosol Can", is less a representative statement than the equivalent of throwing your best pitch first: Diplo wisely capitalizes on the exploding star of Pharrell Williams, currently hitting an unexpected peak as a mainstream musical force and experiencing a broader creative renaissance. While “Aerosol Can” is ripe with fascinating textural work—the hollow, tinny spray and pressurized rattle of the titular can is ear-catching in the best way—it’s foolish to pretend that the song is anything other than the ultimate exercise in “your mileage may vary”: it hinges on how you feel about Pharrell, both as a personality and a rapper. A useful heuristic already exists in the form of his batty, scene-stealing verse on Future’s monstrous single “Move That Dope”: if you’re down with #GandalfHat, “Aerosol Can” will tickle your fancy with lines like, “Make yourself bigger like mushroom/ Mario Kart.” Just don’t press play expecting anything resembling a traditional hook.
At least “Aerosol Can,” for all its simplicity, picks an idea and sticks with it; several of Apocalypse Soon’s other tracks jump from sound to sound with reckless abandon and remarkable volatility, and suffer for it. It’s a relatively minor issue when the hyperactivity takes time away from worthwhile ideas that could use a bigger chance to shine: “Sound Bang,” featuring soca star Machel Montano, leaps from a breezy, lilting beach circle to a hard-charging, strobe-lit club to some sort of hybrid atmosphere and back at whiplash-inducing speeds, but the discrete sections are compelling enough on their own to warrant further exploration. But the excess kinetic energy is a bigger problem when it feels like a diversionary tactic, a distraction from compositions lacking real hooks or momentum. “Lose Yourself” and “Dale Asi” are dense with the sort of drops, rapid shifts, and dynamic plays that need just a tiny substance-aided push to become interesting, but listening to them under normal circumstances is like watching a game of three-card monte once you’ve picked up the keys to the con: an eye on the tricks of the trade spoils the illusion.
It’s disappointing that these songs don’t have the bones to stand on their own, especially since a precedent for truly great Major Lazer songs exists: older cuts like “Keep It Goin’ Louder” (still one of Diplo’s finest musical moments, bar none) and last year’s Amber Coffman collaboration “Get Free” work as both genre exercises and straightforward pop triumphs. Apocalypse Soon’s best song doesn’t quite scrape those heights, but its relative coherence and catchiness places it a head above its counterparts on the EP. “Come On to Me” is anchored by a vintage performance from none other than Sean Paul, whose thick-tongued patois and ability to navigate a hook remains intact even a decade removed from his Dutty Rock heyday. But the song’s merits extend past its vocalist’s charisma: it actually feels like a song with a structure and a fully realized mood, rather than a Frankenstein held together by drops or a sketch. It’s just too bad that “Come On to Me” is the exception on Apocalypse Soon and not the rule.
