Kid Chocolat – Kaleidoscope

As its title suggests, Swiss musician Kid Chocolat doesn’t settle on any single arrangement of sounds and influences on Kaleidoscope, preferring to try his hand at several. The range of collaborators confirms this flighty mentality: Gallic indie-poppers Tahiti 80 guest on the sprightly A Lot of Love; Welsh folktronic trio Land of Bingo appear twice, with Generation Admin a Furries-lite acoustic meander with horn embellishments; Japanese electro artist Puma Mimi purrs over Square Moon’s Knife-like drift; while fellow Genevans Love Motel contribute to a brace of tracks (neither of which make much of an impression, though Survivors has a hint of Fujiya Miyagi to its vocals). And still the wheel keeps turning, losing focus with an awkward EMF cover that undoes some of the good work evidenced elsewhere, not least on closer La Derniére Parade. Amidst it all, Kid Chocolat’s own identity is indistinct, rendering Kaleidoscope interesting, but ultimately uninvolving.