Quadron
Avalanche
Release Date: Jun 4, 2013
Genre(s): Electronic, Downtempo, Indie Electronic, Alternative R&B
Record label: Vested in Culture
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Album Review: Avalanche by Quadron
Great, Based on 10 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
Robin Hannibal and Coco O.'s first Quadron album generated a ripple effect that brought about numerous appearances and collaborations carried out separately and together. Tricky Stewart sought the Denmark duo to provide a caressing version of Thriller deep jam "Baby Be Mine" for the Think Like a Man soundtrack. They recorded a lush single with soul giant Leon Ware.
Based on rating 9/10
Success sort of crept up on singer Coco Maja Hastrup Karshøj and musician/producer Robin Hannibal, collectively known as Quadron. The Danish duo (the band name is a celebration of their respective one-quarter Black heritage) surprised listeners with 2009's "electronic soul" self-titled effort, a groovy project that still holds up. Avalanche veers more towards mainstream pop territories; it's a calculated push towards wider recognition.
Based on rating 84%%
Multi-instrumentalist and producer Robin Hannibal first garnered attention with his pop-leaning Quadron project with vocalist Coco Maja Hastrup Karshøj. But earlier this year, his sensual R & B side project Rhye expanded his culture cache even more. Quadron’s Avalanche is hard to disregard for different reasons. Whereas Rhye’s lush debut Woman was slightly discreet, Quadron’s sophomore record is an intoxicating cocktail of electro-dance, funk and R & B, tailor-made to be imbibed again and again.
Based on rating 4/5
Two things make Quadron's second album impossible to ignore. First: one-half of the Danish duo (producer Robin Hannibal) is also Toronto singer Mike Milosh's musical partner in Rhye (who've just become red-hot). Second, there's a Kendrick Lamar feature on Better Off. Turns out, neither is the best thing about the record (though both are fantastic).
Based on rating 7/10
Quadron see no conflict in their music between raw emotion and soft sound, complex construction and direct communication. In their world, precision, calm, and delicacy are not frowned upon; why should easy listening be seen as a bad thing? Slogging through an album doesn’t necessarily make it more rewarding. Quadron share the aesthetic of a new cohort of artists flocking to the sounds of quiet storm and post-disco soul: Jessie Ware, inc., even Daft Punk (though French pop has been interested in this sound for some time now).
Based on rating 7.0/10
Quadron are a musician’s band. The Danish duo count Prince, Kendrick Lamar, and Pharrell amongst their many famous fans. It’s not hard to see their appeal: Airtight and carefully virtuosic, they’re perfectly wrapped up in their own hermetically sealed pop world. The attraction largely boils down to singer Coco O’s elastic voice, sometimes chirpy and sometimes soulful.
Based on rating 3/5
Producer-musician Robin Hannibal is having a killer year, in large part due to his great taste in singers. The follow-up to Rhye (his collaboration with gender-bending vocalist Mike Milosh) is the second album of new material from the project with his Danish homegirl Coco Maja Hastrup Karshøj, a.k.a. Coco O. An understated soul-pop diva whose sweetness belies her stone funkiness, she's already charmed hip-hop's new guard, including Jay-Z (who featured Coco on the Gatsby soundtrack) and Kendrick Lamar, who guests on the sultry, brass-plated "Better Off." One listen to "Hey Love" – a giddy single that splits the difference between Adele and Amy Winehouse – proves Coco is far more than a hook queen.
Based on rating 3/5
Quadron are vocalist Coco O and instrumentalist/producer Robin Hannibal, an LA-based Danish neo-soul duo who arrived with a confident self-titled debut in 2010. Avalanche proves a middling followup to that first collection of airy, experimental R&B. Coco's vocals – feted by everyone from Jay Z and Tyler the Creator to Kendrick Lamar (who slips in to guest on the intimate, retro-styled Better Off) – are a joy, blooming with an impressive range across sophisticated, mid-tempo instrumentals that, frustratingly, tend to waft rather than fizz.
Opinion: Excellent
by JEAN-LUC MARSH Quadron never cared much for flashiness. The Danish electronic soul duo comprising of singer Coco Maja Hastrup Karshøj and producer Robin Hannibal emerged with little fanfare four years ago, dropped their exquisite self-titled debut, and retreated just as quietly as they came. In the interim period between albums, each half of Quadron delved into different side projects.
Opinion: Very Good
Coco O. was a welcome surprise for most folks who bought the recent soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of “The Great Gatsby.” She was the highlight, one of the few artists who captured the movie’s heart while sounding like a modern singer with an old soul. As the vocalist for Quadron, the Danish duo that also includes musician-producer Robin Hannibal, Coco is a force of nature, a hopeless romantic who can also play the role of fierce dance diva.
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