Gold Panda Album Review

Gold Panda has returned once again with his fourth studio album ‘Good Luck and Do Your Best’

The Chelmsford raised DJ is back once again with an album that will not just be used as a filler in peoples pre-drinks playlist, but also to headline festivals all around the world. The album features lots of Japanese inspired sounds that are woven in subtly on top of Panda’s more traditional house rhythms. This new sound is a result of a trip Gold Panda recently took to Japan and is especially evident in the song ‘Chiba Nights’. This coupled with the soft two-step and fabulous flute sound of ‘Unthank’ gives the listener a chance to step into a completely unexplored dance music world where oriental meets house, to fabulous effect.

‘Song for a Dead Friend’ ties together Japanese koto and the sound of computer games to create a glorious track that would get any dance music fan off their feet. The whole album is fabulously textured and mixed in ways unseen before. There’s even a jazz like sound on ‘Autumn Fall’ that gives off the relaxed and feel good vibes that Panda is renowned for creating. Gold Panda executes every song with a strong conviction that is welcoming as well as ridiculously clever. The feeling of heavy weight starts to fill up the album in the middle and that carry’s on until the album comes to an end with ‘Your Good Times are Just Begging’ which lifts the mood of the album to just below the tempo experienced at the beginning.

This album really takes the listener on what can only be described as an emotional rollercoaster, with Gold Panda blending rich sonic textures with shuffling percussions to create an album full of swagger. ‘Good Luck and Do Your Best’ is without a doubt Gold Panda’s most thrilling body of work to date, the warm vibes this album creates would be perfectly suited to any main stage festival with the sun beaming down. This is an album that is packed full of his trademark tender electronica sound.

Words by Paraic Walker