Sounds Like Home
Bastard Jazz Recordings (57 mins)
Building on the stylistic journey of his 2020 album NO VISA, American DJ and producer Captain Planet brings retro styles to the fore within a world of electronica. The previous album was a well-rounded, intelligent fusion while still providing a fun dance soundtrack – Sounds Like Home falls flat in comparison.
That’s not to say it’s not technically and musically accomplished. It has Captain Planet’s usual globetrotting, with a large number of guest artists and an even wider array of international (mainly pan-American) influences that are handled competently alongside styles such as light funk, disco, acid jazz, synth pop and synthwave. The problem is, with so much going on, it all starts to blend together into fairly cliché tropical pop. The retro influences are polished to an unnatural shine, and any potentially quirky or challenging edges are sanded smooth. Occasional solos provide the highlights, but these are disappointingly few and far between.
It’s light, loungey dance music. Unfortunately it feels less like the sounds of home and more like the sounds of a hotel bar: pleasant and enjoyable for its vibes as background mood music, but ultimately lacking in nutritional value.