TIMELESS

When KAYTRANADA left the 2021 Grammys with two awards (Best Dance/Electronic Album for 2019’s <i>BUBBA</i> and Best Dance Recording for “10%”), he made history as the first Black and first openly gay artist to win the former category. The industry recognition was long overdue for the producer, who had been building a devout following for nearly a decade. “In my mind I was finally a true artist,” he tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. After relocating to Los Angeles, he channelled that confidence into making his third solo album, <i>TIMELESS</i>: “It felt more serious—more legit. I was still having fun making <i>TIMELESS</i>, but making <i>BUBBA</i> was another type of fun where I didn’t really take it seriously.” Like its predecessor, <i>TIMELESS</i> is a collection of club grooves for catching a vibe. It’s packed with guests who effortlessly acclimate to KAYTRANADA’s singular sound while imprinting their own touch. PinkPantheress’ saccharine voice is richer on the squiggly house beat of “Snap My Finger”, Ravyn Lenae offers breathy seductions on the hard-edged R&B of “Video” and Thundercat delivers comical disses in soothing falsetto on the jazzy hip-hop of “Wasted Words”. Back-to-back tracks “Do 2 Me” (featuring Anderson .Paak and SiR) and “Witchy” (featuring Childish Gambino) hit an energy peak, their tales of late-night infatuation framed by sultry, body-enveloping production. If <i>BUBBA</i> was about finding KAYTRANADA’s sound, <i>TIMELESS</i> expands it. The producer is in what he calls his “experimental bag”, and Channel Tres joins him in it on the incendiary “Drip Sweat”. Channel’s trademark baritone drifts in and out of disembodied Auto-Tune, dropping bars over punchy drums and breaks sampled from Lyn Collins’ “Think (About It)”. “We were just making the funkiest thing, like how it would sound if we did new jack swing today,” KAYTRANADA says. “What is that Bobby Brown energy? We were trying to give it that.” He tries out AI sampling on the breezy instrumental “Seemingly”. He also sings on a track for the first time on the Weeknd-inspired “Stepped On”, creating his version of ’80s New Wave with strobing synths and a dark disposition. With a new skill unlocked, <i>TIMELESS</i> makes room for another KAYTRANADA evolution.