Dimlite: This is Embracing

Dimlite hails from Switzerland, a country known for many things. Unfortunately, none of those things happen to be dope electronic beats (and no, chart-topping hit maker Swiss Beatz is not actually from Switzerland). The brainchild of DJ Dimitri Grimm, This is Embracing, Dimlite’s second album, traffics in sludgy beats, loops, and grooves that don’t really go anywhere interesting. I haven’t heard Dimlite’s debut album, which apparently garnered substantial airplay in clubs around the world, so I can’t say whether whether Dimlite is suffering from the dreaded sophomore slump. The disc starts out intriguingly enough, with the vaguely funky groove of “Locked”. Still, most of the disc is just dull, utterly devoid of the creative, groovy electronica normally released by Sonar Kollectiv. That’s not to say it’s all bad. Two high points are the Thievery Corporation retread “Outernational Duet”, featuring Gaby Hernandez, and the vaguely abrasive electro of the oddly titled “Cosmic Echoes in the Mockery Room”.