Magnetica

Solo album project from the ever-prolific Quantic, 2014’s Magnetica is another musical feast of many varied courses, mixing up reggae, dub, Cumbia, Rumba, soul, jazz, funk and electronica, sometimes resulting in retro-flavoured tracks like Latin/Afrobeat workout “Descarga Cúantica” with Michi Sarmiento, or Colombian vocalist Nidia Gongora’s guest spot on “La Plata,” sometimes producing futurist hybrids like the cross-rhythm rap-tronics of “Duvidó” featuring Pongo Love or the contrary, library-music-ish synthetic funk of the title track. It’s Quantic’s most communal album with long-time collaborator Alice Russell appearing on “You Will Return,” a galloping soulful paean with hints of Bacharach and traces of Country, and contributions including UK ragga vocalist Shinehead, singer, instrumentalist and producer Iara Rennó, Brazilian singer and composer Thalma De Freitas and more. Finishing on the unclassifiable — is it soul, lounge, world, or some other thing? — but undeniably lovely “Painting Silhouettes,” Magnetica is another Quantic minor musical triumph.