Interesting fact for the day: David Guetta began mixing his first vinyls at the age of 13. Pretty impressive to say the least; at the time, I was still trying to figure out how to tie a proper Windsor knot. Now, as he almost hits 40, he leaves a steady stream of commercial success behind him. His latest release Poplife adds to that.

With His third album, he deviates very little from the formula that has catapulted some of his productions onto dancefloors worldwide. There’s that all too familiar Guetta sound, one that saw Love Don’t Let Me Go become one of the absolute smashes of 2006 (think the Citroen ad), and the more recent Love is Gone following closely in its footsteps. Here, there’s an album of relatively similar sounding tracks.

Baby When The Light and Tomorrow Can Wait have both got single treatment, the former being very catchy indeed with some nice vocals from Cozi- and both will no doubt get increasingly popular as the summer takes over, and in particular as we approach the arrival of the man himself in the land down under for a series of shows over the New Year period. The Guetta recipe is pretty simple; mix in a solid electro beat, a stack of loops and tweaks, stir in some catchy lyrics from some relatively well known vocalists (including but not limited to: Chris Willis – Tara McDonald – Juliet – JD Davis), and repeat as per taste.

Gastronomic tendencies aside however, and it’s a decent production: Everytime We Touch is a collaboration with Swedish mafia lords Angello and Ingrosso, and Tomorrow Can Wait with the help of Tocadisco has got some nice chunky beats, with the hands-in-the-air vocals never far away. This Is Not A Love Song is the black sheep of the album, sounding notably darker, and with a variation of the recipe, there also appears be a touch of spicy acid mixed in. Appetising. Joan of Arc picks up the pace considerably, and there are some gritty male vocals from Thailand giving it a bit of an industrial-rock feel: welcomed. We’re treated to some bonus tracks in a remix of Love is Gone from Fred Rister and Joachim Garraud and the aforementioned Love Don’t Let Me Go – a nice way to finish of a very Guetta-sounding release.

The sound may not be the freshest, but the vocals and the beats keep things bubbling over nicely. If anything, it’s probably a bit too hectic at times – and it would’ve been nice to hear a softer sound sneak through at times, just for a bit of variation. That said, it’s the Frenchman doing what he does best: electro-house, and keeping the beats banging.