The Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth emerged in the early 2010s with a keen ear for talent, a penchant for genre-hopping, and a knack for sifting through infinite online detritus to find the gems. That endless curiosity has been a wellspring of inspiration for Hemsworth between his solo material, globe-trotting DJ sets, and his work with emerging artists via his Secret Songs label. But on Numbskull, his first solo album since 2018’s Elsewhere, the Juno Award-winning producer took a new approach to collaboration: Instead of catering to his collaborators’ established sounds, what if he dealt them wild cards? The resulting tracks cast Hemsworth and company out of their comfort zones. On “One Step,” illuminati hotties’ Sarah Tudzin delivers a bratty spoken-word performance over blown-out UK hardcore, while “Never Learned” recruits Canadian pop legends Tegan and Sara for an emo anthem with Hemsworth as bandleader. Through it all, the producer filters his wide-ranging influences—Southern rap, UK rave, trip-hop, ambient—through his own prismatic and open-hearted lens.