Return To Paradise – Sam Sparro

Hurrah! Some four years after the release of his brilliant-in-parts debut album, Sam Sparro’s long-awaited sophomore long-player finally gets an Australian release on June 1 – and it’s worth the wait. Sparro’s happily out of step with today’s pop trends, preferring to immerse himself in the sounds of the past. Expect to hear more notes of Chic and Prince funkiness in his dance floor workouts than the sort of harsh electro breakdowns favoured by the current crop of pop stars.

First single Happiness is a great number-one single that never was, and there’s even better further into the album: the supremely funky Let The Love In is a pitch-perfect homage to early ‘80s electro-funk, while on stunning current single Wish I Never Met You, he’s created a tears-on-the-dancefloor break-up anthem to rival anything in Robyn’s canon.