Freewheeling, arty experimentalism from the Ed Banger mainstay

Sebastian Akchoté was instrumental in making Ed Banger Records the pre-eminent Paris dance label in the mid-2000s, working alongside such era-defining acts as Daft Punk, Justice and DJ Mehdi. Then he became known for his work with Frank Ocean; the French producer is credited for “programming” several songs on Ocean’s 2016 album Endless (“Rushes”, “Higgs”, “Slide on Me”) and narrates Blonde’s meditative “Facebook Story”. On Thirst—Akchoté’s first solo album since 2011’s Total—he further expands his sound through a series of freewheeling and unexpected collaborations with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gallant, The Internet’s Syd, Sparks and Mayer Hawthorne, who was also featured on SebastiAn’s last LP. The combination of talent makes for a study in contrasts: cavernous techno, fuzzy R&B and spiralling, abstract hip-hop, all nudging up against each other like bodies on a dance floor. They’re connected by Akchoté’s taste for the melodramatic—grinding hard-rock textures, woozy synthesisers and ominous vocal echoes—which lifts Thirst from a cosmic club record into something much bigger.