Animal

Editors’ Notes A precocious French producer delivers a debut of dulcet, far-reaching electronica. Drawing inspiration from nature and non-Western sounds, Animal shifts effortlessly from electro-pop (“Silver,” featuring Rae Morris) to house (“La Belle Ame,” “De La Luz”) to airy, new-agey takes on hip-hop (“Sheer-Khan,” “Ankara”), blending the organic with the synthetic and the intimate with the alien. The result stays playful and melodic throughout—like Jamie xx’s In Colour, if it left the club and headed for the forest.