Ten Days
follows in the direction of Grammy-winning superstar producer
Fred again..
's
Actual Life
series, incorporating audio snippets from friends, chance encounters, and other sound sources into his wistful, highly collaborative dance tracks. Short, numbered interludes, often drunken singalongs or muddled messages, alternate between proper songs, letting intimate moments set the stage for radio-friendly anthems. "adore u," a bouncy, tropical-tinged tune featuring
Obongjayar
that became
Fred
's first Top Five-charting U.K. pop hit, is placed as the album's first proper song, though other charting singles, including collaborations with
Baby Keem
,
Lil Yachty
Overmono
, and
Flowdan
, are left out, having been included on updated editions of the rolling compilation
USB
. "ten," a follow-up hit featuring
Jozzy
and
Jim Legxacy
, has a more engaging melody and more inventive production. The album gets more surprising as it continues, with
SOAK
delivering a moving, introspective spoken word performance on "just stand there,"
Anderson .Paak
CHIKA
flowing over the drum'n'bass roller "places to be," and perhaps the biggest head-turner in the track listing, country legend
Emmylou Harris
guesting on the rustic, atmospheric "where will i be," an interpolation of the opening track from the
Daniel Lanois
-produced masterwork
Wrecking Ball
. The album's centerpiece is "glow," an effervescent, seven-minute progressive house epic co-produced by
Duskus
Joy Anonymous
's frequent stage and studio partners,
Four Tet
Skrillex
. "backseat" (featuring
the Japanese House
) gives a posthumous production credit to San Francisco breakbeat pioneer
Scott Hardkiss
, and it channels the '90s West Coast rave sound in the context of
's standard style of densely produced, bittersweet dance-pop. More or less what fans would expect from a
album at this point,
is a diaristic emotional whirlwind with a handful of highlights. ~ Paul Simpson