True Colors

Album: True Colors Artist: Zedd Label: Universal Music Rating: ****
Review: Young Russian-German music producer Zedd follows up his breakout hit Clarity with True Colors. It is an EDM album with pop sensibilities and room for plenty of sing-alongs. I Wanna Know features pop star Selena Gomez and has music festival-ready melodies. A definite crossover possibility for Selena.Beautiful has an infectious ‘ba-ba-ba’ melody. Transmission (featuring X Ambassadors), is his long-awaited collaboration with Logic — mercury-fast hip-hop lines with intense electro beats. Taking the segue from the title track into Straight Into the Fire is a winning move for Zedd. The album’s best song is Bumble Bee. Most of the songs are vocal-driven, which is confusing for his fans who are believers of pure EDM. In closing track Illusion, Zedd sends out a virtual message through Echosmith with phrases like ‘this love is your illusion,’ and ‘should’ve known better.’ However, the True Colors record is testament to the 25-year-old’s growth since he first caught the attention of the world dance music scene. With top DJs the world over turning out poppish, vocal-driven, easy-on-the-ear albums, it looks like this is where mainstream EDM is headed. Clocking in at over 50 minutes, it is an album you’d want to consider playing for a long drive or a seaside holiday with your girlfriends.