Afrojack: Forget the World review – EDM bangers with big-name guests

If you've ever suspected that Las Vegas is a portal to the depths of hell, then this album should serve as confirmation. A collection of EDM bangers with big-name guests, it could be the soundtrack to the best night ever at the Hakkasan hotel, where Afrojack, AKA Nick van de Wall, is a resident DJ. It's lurid, grandiose, ersatz and, most disturbingly of all, has Sting singing about homeless people. The structure is more or less consistent: a slow, perhaps orchestral intro, whiny, self-actualising vocals, euphoric drop, hook played by lasers. The best efforts are Dynamite, featuring Snoop Dogg, with its low-slung Cali feel, and Three Strikes, which bangs – and features the vocals of Martine McCutcheon's husband, Jack McManus ("one, two, three, get the fuck up"). The worst is everything else. Mexico sounds like a Coldplay offcut but is presumably Afrojack revealing his artistic side. It's the album's one truly poignant moment.