DJ Cam

DJ Cam (from France) has brought together an interesting variety of sounds from jazz, rock, downtempo and R&B. However, there's something in their synthetic formation that doesn't resonate. Instead, Seven comes off mostly like the DJ isn't being entirely honest with his art. The rich audio potential comes off lacking feeling, built melodramatically, a bit like elevator music (as on "1988"). One exception is the acoustically-driven "Swim," with vocals by Chris James reaching a beautiful high pitch comparable to Thom Yorke. "Love" exhibits clear, compelling vocal work by Nicolette, but the connection with the music is off; her power isn't properly backed by the repetitive percussion and haphazardly placed effects. "Uncomfortable," not surprisingly, takes the listener to a place of discomfort and the transition from digitized rock ballad to orchestral sounds feels wrong. DJ Cam aims to connect many different genres of sound, but the result hits a sour note. Seven shows that he needs to swim against the stream and focus.