Popular music history is littered with the failures of artists who have burnt their fingers on the hotplate of experimentation. Whether it is David Bowie turning his hand to drum ‘n’ bass, Robbie Williams trying to rap, or Chris Cornell hooking up with Timbaland, there is a price to be paid for defecating on your back catalogue in the pursuit of artistic integrity. As some of the reactions to Tiesto’s latest album demonstrate, when an artist decides to go beyond the stylistic boundaries within which they are perceived to operate, it is by no means a given that fans and audiences will be accepting of such experimentation.

In the promotional material surrounding this release, Andy Caldwell has expressed his lack of interest in pursuing the deep, soulful house sound on which he rose to prominence. As such, he has taken something of a stylistic left turn on Obsession. He has cast aside the delicate fragility that permeated many of his earlier mixes and productions, favouring instead an electro-driven sound that is a little bit darker and more aggressive. While any attempts to experiment and broaden one’s horizons should be commended, it’s not a good look if you fall flat on your face in the process. A few too many of the eleven tracks on here fall significantly short of the mark.

A selection of guest vocalists appear on the album, which lends proceedings an inviting variety, but at the same time prevents any kind of sustained vibe from developing. Caldwell kicks things off with a couple of gems, with Black Diamond Sky establishing the mood with its dark electro shades and suitably restrained vocal from Storm Lee, while the title track delicately pulses along on layers of shimmering synths. Given the name of the album, it’s no surprise that most of the lyrical content deals with matters of the heart, or more specifically, passion and sex. It’s Guud runs with this, but unfortunately it comes across as a comedy of errors. Caldwell has obviously attempted to create a track that oozes lust and drips with sex, but instead it sounds like two virgins fumbling around in the dark. A sultry female vocal line acts as a response to the call of a rap from Mr. V, asking if he can “make you scream, make you moan, take you home… I wanna come inside” (I’m guessing he isn’t talking about walking through the front door of the house). Combined with the annoyingly scratchy synth riff, this track will have you rolling on the floor in a state of side-splitting hilarity.

Caldwell’s pop sensibility shines through on Don’t Go Home Tonight, but it’s a fairly pedestrian electro workout that quickly washes over you, and the same can be said for both Scream and Time After Time. With a vocal from Gram’ma Funk (the voice of Groove Armada’s I See You Baby), Funk Nasty is a dance/rap/pop hybrid that sounds a little out of date and, unsurprisingly, like a Groove Armada reject. Rap again rears its head on Put Me in the Mix, and again Caldwell fuses it with a female response vocal line and some annoying electro, and again it’s all a little bit clumsy and fidgety.

Interestingly, it is on the tracks that sound most like vintage Andy Caldwell when the pieces really fall into place. Fear My Pride is a solid slice of moody electro-house with a gorgeous, soulful vocal from Gina Rene, although the small rap (again!) inserted towards the end doesn’t help. Similarly, on What Do You Feel, Dutch singer-songwriter Femke layers her delicate tones around a simple and spacious electro-house framework. The album concludes with the sublime ballad All I Want is You, a shuffling beat underpinning a fragile female vocal to create a haunting modern classic. These tracks prove that Caldwell’s strengths remain in the deeper, smoother, and more soulful aspects of dance music, and so it’s a little confusing as to why he seems so intent on leaving them behind. The mixed results on this album suggest he would be foolish to do so.

The album does have its moments, but the problem is that none of them really touch you on an emotional level, and so you walk away without really remembering anything. Stylistically, Caldwell has his fingers in a few different pies on here, so as a whole, the album lacks a coherent and unifying identity. I hope he regains his focus, because he’s capable of so much better.