Amin PaYnE is a producer raised Aukland, New Zealand and now living in Melbourne, Australia. He has put in work as part of Condensed Milk along with Jackson Miles and MåSëlf, and as part of The Operatives with Silent Jay. He has put out a few solo projects over the last couple of years as well, including the enjoyable tributes to Gil Scott-Heron and Curtis Mayfield. This album once again allows Cascade to introduce everyone to a talented international producer they might not have found otherwise.

PaYnE is a very versatile producer, able to channel a lot of different sounds and influences. On a track like “One Day,” he draws on some Nu Shooz-tyle electro-boogie, then comes right back with an Timbaland-esque banger in “Moonlight,” put together with Hamburg producer Ben Bada Boom. There are other times where his easy-going jazz/funk sounds a bit more like what we’re hearing from a lot of European producers right now, and a track like “Waiting For Her” are more typical of a down tempo instrumental hip hop album. “Infinite Horizon” throws down a house/disco groove that I’m sure will get the dance floor packed. The impressive part of all this is that there’s not one sound on the record that sounds more natural or better suited to PaYnE than the other. PaYnE obviously has the chops and deep understanding of what makes each of these styles successful that everything he does sounds really good. Cosmic Disfunktions is packed full of songs that are extremely fun and enjoyable and varied. The only real problem I find here is that PaYnE has yet to make that final leap where everything comes together in a way that we can listen to each of these tracks and identify it’s one of his. At this point, though, the album sounds more like a compilation than a cohesive listening experience where an artist is communicating something across all of the tracks. Granted, this is a tough thing to do, and it might not have been PaYnE’s intent at all when putting this together, but it’s the one thing I feel that’s missing here and could make him jump up a level in my mind.

That said, there is plenty to like here, and PaYnE has shown a lot of talent over a wide range of music. I’m sure his audience will keep growing, as this diversity can bring in a lot of different listeners. I remain confident that he’ll keep getting better, too, and I’ll be excited to see him make that leap in the near future.