Calvin Harris’s Fun, Frivolous “Feels” Is Worth it for the Pharrell Verses Alone
If you’ve been following this year’s trickle of stylishly nostalgic singles from Calvin Harris, you already have a pretty good idea of what “Feels,” his latest, sounds like. The production is a skillful melange of sounds from the mid-70s apex of analog recording, the era of disco and yacht rock: a warm and rounded bassline, some Nile Rodgers-style guitar, a slick descending line on Fender Rhodes. As on “Heatstroke,” there’s an overstuffed guest list of vocalists; this time, it’s Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, and Big Sean.
With their powers combined, those three are in grave danger of summoning a Captain America of corniness. That they manage to avoid that fate is mostly thanks to Pharrell, who’s the most at home on a funky and organic backing track like this one. Harris’s “Feels” production,…