Russian-German disc jockey Anton Zaslavski, known as Zedd, recently released his junior album, a choppy composition in comparison to his previous works.
Although fairly formulaic and catchy, “True Colors,” released May 15, lacks cohesiveness, unlike his sophomore album, “Clarity,” which doesn’t drag you along for the ride but rather coaxes you.
“True Colors” starts off on a decent note with spine-chilling, interstellar “Addicted To A Memory.” Its lush riffs, mechanical bass lines and eerie vocals create a dynamic listening experience as it leads into “I Want You To Know,” featuring Selena Gomez.
After two songs, “True Colors” transforms into an artistic mess. The majority of the record contains the same boring chord progressions, average vocal collaborations and shallow fillers that suffocate even some of his earlier works.
After “Addicted To A Memory,” the album has a rather pop-ish feel to it. “True Colors” sounds like Zedd’s fatal attempt to cater to the mainstream, losing his sound as well as his individuality.
“Bumble Bee,” Zedd’s collaboration with Botnek, featured a digitized buildup and an industrial denouement. The song, however, proved to be a poor attempt at dubstep. It didn’t compare to previous songs like “Codec,” “Stache” and “Epos.” In “True Colors,” Zedd’s once great instrumentals are nowhere to be found.
All in all, besides one great song and one listenable song, “True Colors” lacked Zedd’s sonic signature. It all boils down to one question: Did “True Colors” live up to its expectations? Unfortunately, it did not.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 5/28/15]
