This is Michael Vater’s, aka Phonique, third album, and this time he has employed talented help from the likes of Gui Boratto, H.O.S.H. and Abyss (tick, tick, tick) as well as a stack of vocal talent including Louie Austen, Rebecca and Georg Levin. In fact, most of the tracks on Kissing Strangers feature a guest appearance.

It’s been three years since his 2007 album Good Idea, so it’s interesting to see what he has come up with and how his style has developed over the past few years. What first springs to mind on first listen to this album is: where is it going? What musical shelf is it trying to sit on, and what’s it trying to achieve?

Because on Kissing Strangers (which has been co-produced by Alex Kruger), there are more styles from track to track than you can shake a disco stick at. A quick list of what you can expect to hear – house, indie vibes, reggae, disco, jazzy lounge and Balearic bliss – should give you an idea of what to expect, and that’s to not expect you’ll ever be sure what’s coming next. However, what does appear to be missing is another Red Dress, that heady 2004 track he released to much success, becoming one of the hits of that year.

Passion is a great opening for Kissing Strangers. It’s an upbeat, feelgood track with a nod to the sounds of the late ‘90s. While influences and emulation of these may not always be intentional, it must be difficult to come up with something fresh after decades of house and the millions of tunes that flood the market today. Meanwhile, Passion has a very distinct sound of Les Rhythmes Digitales (aka Stuart Price, also of Zoot Woman and Jacques Lu Cont fame) from the Darkdancer days of 1999. And that’s a very welcome thing.

Our Time, Our Chance is moodier, slower and darker. It’s a bit of a disjointed transition from the first track, and leads into Amy’s Heart, which mixes Sade-style vocals with a slow and mellow reggae feel. What does tie a few tracks on Kissing Strangers together is that Balearic vibe, which both Thousand Finger Man and Summer deliver, from their upbeat driving melodies to the sounds of sundrenched shores, and you’d be forgiven for thinking Phonique could well be gunning for a 2010 Ibiza anthem.

While some tracks sit on the album perfectly well – Endless Love, Summer, Perfect Stranger – you’d wonder why others made it on there in the first place; A Change Receives the Blessing, for example, is a jazz-influenced lounge room song, finger snaps included.

Yes, on initial listen it’s as though he is trying to fit too many square pegs into deep house holes, and some tracks really don’t seem to deliver the typical sounds of Dessous. But Phonique has a way of getting ahead of things. Kissing Strangers could well be a case of loving it the more you listen to it. While an oft-melancholic album, it’s got great moments of summer love and positive vibes, and the true house tracks are incredible.

As Phonique recently said himself, “When I make an album, I want it to reflect the warmer, more positive sides of the musical experience. I like that sense of freedom; I like to try new things. It’s deliberate.” Do dig deep for the goods on this one. They work on the mind and body in more ways than one, and your efforts will be worth it.

Kissing Strangers is out now on Dessous through Stomp.