OASIS

OASIS

The DJ/producer unites 2010s EDM and folk-pop under one dance tent. Toronto DJ/producer Frank Walker approached his second album, OASIS, with the explicitly nostalgic intent of recapturing the euphoric energy that first drew him to dance music in the 2010s. But for him, that means not just plotting the sort of builds and drops that make festival tents explode, but also reformulating the pop music that defined the era as well. Songs like “Run With the Sun” (featuring Bryce Vine) and “Find My Way” (with Derek Fein) channel the Aviici/Aloe Blacc crossover smash “Wake Me Up” in their fusion of stomp-clap folk jams and house thumpers. The country-tinged Dustin Lynch cameo “Remember Us” and Danielle Bradbery-hosted hoedown “Desperado” likewise stake the middle ground between rave and rodeo. Of course, every party inevitably must come to an end, but with the closing “What Loves Feels Like,” Walker delivers an ecstatic break-of-dawn anthem that will leave listeners floating on cloud nine long after the last beaming synth note fades.