Cosmic Zimmer: “Drunk But Not Wasted” – genuinely captivating and moving

Dutch National, Cosmic Zimmer is originally from the Dutch Caribbean and has lived in multiple places. An IT, Commerce and Robotics specialist, he has been making music for 13 years and got his first music lessons from a teacher who studied film scoring at the Berklee College of Music. Cosmic Zimmer was convinced to use his musical talents by a Viennese gastronomy legend and friend, Martin who advised him to record an album. This led to the 10 track collection, “Drunk But Not Wasted”.

70% of the album’s instrumentals were produced during 2014 in Vienna, Austria, while the rest were completed in Holland and Germany. The album features the Moroccan ‘The Voice’ semi-finalist, Medyoneful who sings both “Life Is A Party” and “In My Life”, Virginia-based singer Roxxi Red who handles “Almost Bedtime”, Wuddy who sings “Celebrate” and “No Matter”, Deri’s amazing talent on “Pseudo Love” and the guitar solo piece at the end of “The Awakening”, and Australian-born Californian, Jemma Louis on “So Happy” and “Drunk But Not Wasted”.

Cosmic Zimmer has put together a batch of songs that cover Pop, Soul and R&B flavors. In essence, “Drunk But Not Wasted” is an album packed full of hit singles. From the fantastic R&B electronic stand-off between synth twangs and club build-ups on “Life Is A Party”, to the soulful Deri-assisted “Pseudo Love” and the pop infested “So Happy” featuring Jemma Louis.

The result is an emotional album of potential radio-friendly hits featuring star vocalists and full-bodied choruses that, when heard together, feel like a moment of reflection from Cosmic Zimmer’s view at the top.

If you’re a fan of crossover dance, electronica, pop, with various vocalists, but don’t often hear music in the genre that really excites you, maybe because so much of dance music isn’t really made to last … it’s disposable; meant to be enjoyed in the club or on the treadmill, but not meant to be still enjoyed or appreciated months or years into the future.

This album takes the formula from those multi-singer dance albums, but adds a different substance, full of Cosmic Zimmer’s throbbing, crisp beats complemented by a variety of current underground Pop/R&B talent.

In such, the album aims higher than just disposable dance floor filler and offers tracks that are genuinely captivating and moving – “Almost Bedtime” by Roxxi Red and “The Awakening” featuring Deri, being prime examples.

“Drunk But Not Wasted” is an excellent album. It’s not just beat-dominated music, but has great melodies and superb singers. Although the music has such a host of singers, it sounds well integrated as if it was from a single unit rather than a bunch of separate and non-related tracks and performers. I guess that’s Cosmic Zimmer’s work and he’s done an excellent job of it.

The album does offer a refreshingly intimate look at Cosmic Zimmer’s songwriting style, which mashes diverse sounds.  “Drunk But Not Wasted” also shines a light on what Cosmic Zimmer does perhaps better than many, write crossover pop songs that feel poignantly, unequivocally now, but with a classic feel.

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