After nearly claiming this year’s Song of the Summer crown with the shamelessly titled “Summer,” Scottish DJ-producer Calvin Harris is trying to keep the momentum going. His fourth album, Motion, out Nov. 4, recycles many of the same party tricks he’s honed working with A-list pop stars like Rihanna–hard-hitting house beats that build and build before bursting into a flurry of hyperactive synthesizers.
Hearing that 15 times in a row, however, can be as exhausting as a wild night out, so Harris stacks the album’s back half with an eclectic list of guest artists. Rapper Big Sean, alt-pop trio Haim and rising R&B star Tinashe shine. Only the Gwen Stefani collaboration “Together” falls short of its star-power potential. But Harris has the best results when he strays from the sounds and styles he’s known for: twisted keyboards go bump in the night on “Slow Acid,” while “Overdrive” sounds like a swarm of bees on ecstasy. If he really wants to keep the party going, he ought to get weird more often.
This appears in the November 10, 2014 issue of TIME.
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