Kent Ape

After years languishing in the blues-rock trenches, Omar Kent Dykes left his Howlers band behind in 2007, hooked up with friend and fellow Austin-ite Jimmie Vaughan, brought in some like-minded guests such as singer Lou Ann Barton, and cruised into one of the most popular blues albums of that year with a tribute to a major influence for both musicians; On the Jimmy Reed Highway. Little has changed on this follow-up from two years later.

Sigala, a rising UK DJ/producer from Norfolk, fondly remembers playing “Rock Around the Clock” blindfolded on the keyboards at school talent shows, steadily increasing the tempo to mesmerizing levels. That playful repurposing of classic melodies into showstopping new forms continued as he created chart-scaling dance-pop. He got his start by experimenting with songs that blur the lines between remix and reboot, first with “Easy Love,” a feel-good piano house anthem that samples the Jackson 5’s “ABC,” and then with “Say You Do,” which lays Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” (sung by Imani Williams) over rambunctious drum ’n’ bass. Both of those cuts are included here on his first full-length, where Sigala test-drives his songwriting chops and invites a rainbow of pop stars—Kylie Minogue, Craig David, Flo Rida, and others—along for the ride.