TIMELESS by KAYTRANADA | Album Review

Montreal’s signature tastemaker brings the vibes on his third solo album.

Listen to TIMELESS: Apple Music | Spotify

In the few years since his last solo outing, 2019’s Bubba, Montreal-based producer KAYTRANADA has been keeping himself quite busy. Following a grammy win in 2021, he’s been producing for the likes of PinkPantheress and ¥$ (Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign). He collaborated with Aminé last year for the summery Kaytraminé, and most recently toured with The Weeknd for his After Hours Till Dawn Tour. I had the chance to see him perform live during The Weeknd’s Toronto show, and I am still mesmerized by his performance nearly 2 years later.

I’d say KAYTRANADA has been building up a lot more hype and interest, which makes his latest album TIMELESS seem all the more important, like a huge opportunity to flex his skills as a producer and extend his reach to a wider audience. This statement rings truer when taking in the star-studded guest list ranging from Childish Gambino, Anderson .Paak, and more. So it begs the question: Does KAYTRANADA deliver with TIMELESS?

The answer? Absolutely. TIMELESS sticks to KAYTRANADA’s realm of R&B/house music, tapping into his innate ability to craft catchy earworms fit for any late night dance session. As a curator he knows who to pick for guest features, with each working remarkably well on their respective tracks. Although the album does overstay its well come with a few redundant tracks, they don’t take away from the vibes KAYTRANADA brings on TIMELESS.

The production on here is similar to KAYTRANADA’s previous outings, so expect to here his signature bounce throughout TIMELESS albeit it sounds much more perfected this time around. Take the impeccable groove of “Weird” for example, the drums and bass hit just right that it’ll have you moving in your seat in seconds. It’s a statement that rings true for most of the album.

Occasionally, TIMELESS does expand beyond KAYTRANADA’s main style and bring some elements of trap (“Feel A Way”), U.K. garage (“Drip Sweat”), and tropical house (“Do 2 Me”) just to name a few. While these instances do break up the monotony of TIMELESS, there are several tracks that all blend together and offer little to nothing different. Songs like “Seemingly” are just one example of the “filler” on TIMELESS that I felt like wasn’t needed.

The guest features though, do make up for the overstuffing of TIMELESS with some pretty stellar performances. KAYTRANADA’s go to collaborators such as Tinashe and Thundercat shine on “More Than a Little Bit” and “Wasted Words” respectively. Some unexpected guests like Don Toliver and Channel Tres work surprisingly well with KAYTRANADA’s style, and will hopefully work with him on their future releases at some point. The standout though is without a doubt Childish Gambino on “Witchy”. Glover’s cadences and delivery blend beautifully with the song’s airy synths.

Other guests such as Anderson. Paak on the aforementioned “Do 2 Me”, or PinkPantheress with “Snap My Finger” work very naturally with KAYTRANADA‘’s production and catch the vibe well enough. While they don’t bring anything remarkable (compared to the other guest spots) their addition does show how well they mesh with KAYTRANADA’s style and that’s just fine in my opinion.

Overall, KAYTRANDA comes through and brings some immaculate vibes on TIMELESS. His signature style of music feels much more refined this time around that you’ll be grooving all throughout the album’s runtime. While most of the tracks and a handful of guest features make the album feel tremendous, it does get held back by some unnecessary filler tracks and some guest spots that don’t really add anything inventive to the whole thing.

For my final rating, I’m giving TIMELESS a 7/10. Obviously, if the album was much shorter with less redundancy I think it would’ve scored higher but that's just a personal preference. All in all, KAYTRANADA delivered a pretty solid album just for the summer time. His knack for bouncy beats and curating a vibe has never sounded as good as it does on TIMELESS, and I truly think he’s perfected his sound with this new album.

Final Rating: 7/10

Favourite Tracks: Weird, Feel a Way, Drip Sweat, More Than a Little Bit, Witchy,