Nightmares on Wax, 'thought so...'

Backstory: Nightmares on Wax is the brainchild of British producer George Evelyn, a former DJ and B-boy who made a successful crossover into producing hip-hop and electronic soul records in the early ‘90s and still remains a force six albums later.

Why you should care: Evelyn makes unpretentious, happy songs that are always free from R&B and rap clichés, with enough production detail to satisfy those that check the technique.

Verdict: Nightmares on Wax albums have gotten progressively more laid-back and chilled out. With stoner joints like “Still? Yes!” and the almost Caribbean smooth jazz riffs of “Calling,” this one is no exception, though songs like “Da Feelin” and “Hear in Colour” still have a lively enough tempo and bump for dancing. Definitely the loosest album in the artist’s catalog, “thought so…” has elegant little touches that make it feel casual and friendly, like the inclusion of behind-the-scenes conversational snippets during recording sessions that would normally be edited out.

X-Factor: The album was written while on a creative retreat, a road trip from Evelyn’s relatively sleepy hometown of Leeds to the notorious Spanish party isle of Ibiza, stopping to record in various points along the way. Evelyn and his collaborators documented the trip on video, the highlights of which are on the Nightmares on Wax blog.