Pulse Premonition 2018 is the official summer compilation from Global Hesit Recordings. It pairs vocalists on the rise with established producers in a playlist ready format. As an idea, this seems pretty smart. It’s a great way to showcase the label’s new talent while showcasing a friendly, forward-facing collectivism.

But good business decisions don’t necessarily make good music, so what are we dealing with here? First off, there’s a good variety to the songs. ‘Happy and High’ has a surprising, laid-back, indie slacker feel and the Kopasetic remix fills in any and all gaps that makes for a more conventional 4/4 synth attack. The piano in ’Smalltown Boy’ shimmers and burns, and the sleazy disco groove of ‘Sin Compromisos – Kopasetic Mix’ makes me want to move to Miami and buy a jet ski. Dance compilations can get stale quick but this is full of life.

The compilation falls down with the vocals. They are almost always the weakest points of the tracks here. ‘DNA’ has some risible sub-Ke$ha bad-girl boasting and I’m almost certain that the vocals on ‘Love Lately’ are out of tune. Apart from this, the vocals are never truly bad, they just don’t pop with the impact that you would want from this kind of collection of dance music. For a compilation that touts its exciting mix of veteran producers and up-and-coming vocalists, there’s precious little in the way of chemistry between the two.

Don’t let that stop you from checking this out though. There’s good, clean, fun here – just in time for the tail end of summer.