Will Holland
refashions
Quantic
into a full-blooded disco act on
Dancing While Falling
. As studied and distinctive as retro-contemporary disco albums by early
Faze Action
or
Escort
, it sees
Holland
and a host of collaborators turn out a largely celebratory batch of dancefloor nuggets that land somewhere between
the Salsoul Orchestra
and
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
. It's the type of disco derived from soul, decked out in strings, horns, and Latin and Afro-Caribbean percussion -- a
specialty -- in a way that is intensely striking without being ostentatious. Central to the album is recurring lead voice and co-writer
Andreya Triana
, a richly graceful natural who played a similar role on
Ben Westbeech
Kon
's self-titled album as
the Vision
.
Connie Constance
takes her turn on "Get in the Ride," a bristling dance-punk deviation with a chest-quaking synthesized low end, while
Rationale
sweetly fronts the more soulful "Unconditional." A pair of invigorated group-vocal belters can be found on the first side. An equal number of cinematic instrumental pieces are on side two. ~ Andy Kellman