Quest for fire

"Skrillex's desire to apply a pop sheen to everything yields mixed dividends. Authentically grabby hooks and sharp melodies on the drum'n'bass-influenced Good Space and A Street I Know vie for space with tracks such as Ratatata, on which the melding of a sample from Missy Elliott's Work It and a needling synth stumbles along the line that separates insistent from annoying. It's fascinating to hear Four Tet's twinkling aesthetic shifted into more obviously commercial waters on Butterflies. But the attempt on Too Bizarre to turn Chicago juke into something chart-bound flounders: somehow its conjugation of warp-speed beats and neon-hued melodies ends up recalling early-90s Eurohouse, which can't have been the aim".

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"The dubstep disruptor returns with two albums - one of super-massive bass juggernauts, one of dizzy emo-rap - that make a surprisingly strong case for the Skrillex reboot ... On 'Quest for Fire', Skrillex goes in search of - obviously - the most fire beats in the land, plus a few of the sickest drops for good measure. Special guests are stuffed in tight, from headline-grabbing heavyweights (Four Tet, Missy Elliott, Mr. Oizo) to underground choices primed to surprise the music nerds - artists like Bristol bass sculptor Joker and experimental percussionist Eli Keszler".

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"The EDM titan's first full-length solo release in almost a decade features 25 guests and bountiful genres. The return largely lives up to the hype".

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"The EDM titan's first full-length solo release in almost a decade features 25 guests and bountiful genres. The return largely lives up to the hype".

Read review

"The dubstep disruptor returns with two albums - one of super-massive bass juggernauts, one of dizzy emo-rap - that make a surprisingly strong case for the Skrillex reboot ... On 'Quest for Fire', Skrillex goes in search of - obviously - the most fire beats in the land, plus a few of the sickest drops for good measure. Special guests are stuffed in tight, from headline-grabbing heavyweights (Four Tet, Missy Elliott, Mr. Oizo) to underground choices primed to surprise the music nerds - artists like Bristol bass sculptor Joker and experimental percussionist Eli Keszler".

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"Skrillex's desire to apply a pop sheen to everything yields mixed dividends. Authentically grabby hooks and sharp melodies on the drum'n'bass-influenced Good Space and A Street I Know vie for space with tracks such as Ratatata, on which the melding of a sample from Missy Elliott's Work It and a needling synth stumbles along the line that separates insistent from annoying. It's fascinating to hear Four Tet's twinkling aesthetic shifted into more obviously commercial waters on Butterflies. But the attempt on Too Bizarre to turn Chicago juke into something chart-bound flounders: somehow its conjugation of warp-speed beats and neon-hued melodies ends up recalling early-90s Eurohouse, which can't have been the aim".

Read review