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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Dave Simpson

Cassius: Ibifornia review – funky pop, sunshine and cliches

Cassius
Birdy songs … Cassius

It’s a decade since this pre-Daft Punk French electronic duo’s last album, 15 Again, but they’ve kept themselves busy producing other artists such as Phoenix and the Rapture. On Ibifornia, Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass’s bulging contacts book produces an A-list guestlist, from Pharrell Williams to Cat Power. Go Up, featuring both, is a glistening club banger, while Power’s sultry ballad Feel Like Me and speaker-quaking Action are the best things here.

The title envisages a blend of Ibiza and California: dancefloor funky pop merges into balmy, sunshine-soaked grooves, although at times the band seem to be feeling the effects of that long gap. A large raspberry for the endless sax squawks, irritating use of old, cliched bird tweet samples and ghastly “Whoo!”s all over the place. Hey You! is a modern glam-gospel anthem, but Beastie Boy Mike D’s rap on Love Parade is ludicrous: “Just like Lemmy said in The Ace of Spades / love comes strong and then it fades.” Did he really?

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