With their fourth studio album, and led, as ever, by the stunning looks and vocal tones of the gorgeous Natalie Horler, Original Me sees Cascada take a more directly commercial approach to their material on their fourth studio release. Packaged alongside a bonus “Greatest Hits” disc (of which there have been many), it sees somewhat of a departure from the sound of old, which focused primarily on huge, pulsating Euro dance beats with pop stylings. Original Me seems stripped back at times, focusing on a more straight up mid tempo pop feel, still lacing in dance beats, but in a less obvious fashion than before.
It is also in the mid tempo pop moments where this album excels, giving Natalie’s lead vocals the chance to shine, and really stand out on their own. Whether or not the change in style has been a conscious attempt at commercial longevity, is only a question that they could answer, but it certainly feels that the club bangers of days gone by are a thing of the past. San Francisco opens the album, and is rightfully the lead single. It has grown on me a lot since the first listen, and is a great track, although less club oriented then previous songs were. However, the pop genius starts early, with the memorable bridge (“1-2-3, let’s bring it on, DJ play my favourite beat all night long”) sounding incredible the more you listen to it. It is a hook that will get lodged in your head for days, and marks this out as a highlight early on. Former single Pyromania (another number which has grown with further listens) also makes an appearance early on, having been originally released last year.
After this though, the rest of the albums highlights come in the form of the mid tempo power pop songs, which at times see some R&B rap interchanges laced in, showcasing the more obvious intentions of getting this album some daytime radio play. On the likes of Unspoken and Independence Day, Natalie’s excellent vocals interchange with R&B/rap vocals, mirroring the types of tracks that have seen acts like B.O.B become chart topping stars. They show a nice dynamic which has rarely played a part in the Cascada sound in the past (except on Evacuate The Dancefloor) but which shows another side to them, that could make them more accessible to an entirely different market. Enemy is another mid tempo number which comes over well on first listen.
The problem with Original Me though is that the rest comes across a bit forgettable, and nowhere near the high standards as set by the groups three previous albums. The staccato dance beats may well return on Stalker, but some of the songs, particularly Au Revoir, Sinner On The Dancefloor, and the title track, are some of the worst songs they have ever put to record. As a collection, it is a little disappointing, but only because of the immensely high quality of their back catalogue before this latest record.
Luckily, the inclusion of the greatest hits bonus disc saves this, but in many ways, the brilliance of their previous songs only accentuates how distinctly average Original Me is as a collection. Sure it may have it’s highlights (as above), but the majority of the tracks just fail to live up to the previous glories of Everytime We Touch, Evacuate The Dancefloor, Bad Boy, and the rest.
Distinctly average by their standards.
6/10
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