Felix Cartal

Turning his magic bag of tricks inside out, Felix Cartal is set to catapult himself into the upper echelon of Canadian electronic music with his sophomore album. Where his debut, Popular Music, mined the straight-up electro house vein for all it was worth, Different Faces delivers what its title would have you assume, showcasing the Vancouver producer's more diverse approach to the genre, as well as his vastly improved skills in the studio. At nearly opposite ends of the spectrum, the Mighty Ducks-referencing "Triple Deke" gets by on a raunchy lead, pounding house beat and a heavy vocal sample that merely repeats "bass" to underline the fact, while "Life is a Sinewave" wouldn't be out of place in the more progressive Border Community catalogue. Where his debut was a solid, but rather static exercise, the sound of Different Faces is far more present and dynamic. His build-ups are more surprising and compelling, which makes the changes and drops stand out all the more, the guest vocals have more character and the flow of the album is more fluid, allowing its greatest moments to pop off the track listing. This is a world-class album.