Sharam Jey, most famed for his debut artist album 4 Da Loverz, has taken an epic six years to follow it up with In My Blood. While there were a couple of mix comps, a few remixes and work on his own label, things have been noticeably quiet. After such a long break, it is hard to know what to expect from this effort. 4 Da Loverz was a disco- and soul-inspired house record, bringing in breaks and hip hop elements with and an all-over friendly groove.

Six years later, the formula is quite different. Jey has got a mix bag of guest vocalists on board to feature on half the tracks, including Nik Valentino (the Lost Valentinos) and Princess Superstar. Kicking off with a very Daft Punk sounding track, things get progressively better, largely to the guest vocalists. With Nik Valentino doing vocals on the title single In My Blood, his angsty The Cure-esque vocals give it distinction.

While the grindy electro synths that dominate this record will ultimately be likened to Daft Punk and even Justice, they don’t quite manage to capture that same level of energy. Tracks like Fists of Fury sound as if they could have be pulled straight from Human After All, with electronic-inspired space guitar noises that sound like they breach copyright.

After some more Daft punk rips, we finally do arrive at Princess Superstar; seriously hoping she can rescue this sinking ship. Whilst definitely one of the highlights on this album, it is clear it is not going to be enough. Weak even by Superstar’s standards, its hard to pin-point what it is about each track that never sees it peak.

BoomBoomBoom is probably one of the most interesting tracks. Clearly Michael Jackson-inspired and one of the most original here, Jey manages to almost pull it off. It has elements reminiscent of 4 Da Loverz, with a bit more groove and melody, but again the elements could have been pulled from a number of other tracks electro tracks doing the rounds. There seems to be a large element of originality missing from the record in general.

The Things is probably the biggest saviour towards the end. Whilst big on cheese, we finally see Sharam Jey climax with a good vocal and jumping beats. Loving Me Loving U is another 4 Da Loverz homage, and would have effortlessly sat well on that album.

It is hard too see any of these tracks being big club hits, unless they get a necessary overhaul on the remixes. The Daft Punk throwbacks are becoming increasingly overdone, and even some ace vocals can’t save this record from sounding too familiar.

In My Blood is out now on Onelove through Sony.