With more than 7 million YouTube views for its music video, which chronicles a crazy Las Vegas bender, “Bounce” is already a solid hit in producer Calvin Harris‘ native United Kingdom, and is starting to impact stateside radio. At first, the smooth and sweet vocal by frequent dance collaborator Kelis seems like a mismatch with the minimalist, Atari-toned synth theme of the track. But Harris, who first tried to break through as an electronic singer/songwriter (with 2007’s memorably snarky “I Created Disco”), cleverly manipulates the contrast between the human and machine melody lines. The result is a robotic bit of R&B pop–or perhaps a more honeyed version of radio electro. Either way, Harris’ “Bounce” is a uniquely catchy record that doesn’t quite sound like anything else out right now.
