There’s always been a fertile creative tension at the heart of Tiga’s music: on the one hand he’s the underground techno don, on the other, there’s a pop sensibility that enables him to write great songs. It’s this duality that makes him one of electronic music’s most engaging characters. He’s about as far from your faceless techno DJ as it’s possible to get. It’s also the power that drives his new album, only the third in a long career which has always favoured quality over quantity.

For longtime fans, it will come as no surprise that Tiga has made a fantastic record. In his illustrious career, he’s remixed LCD Soundsystem, Depeche Mode, The xx and Moby, among many others. He has used his Turbo label to break new acts like Duke Dumont, Chromeo, Gsaffelstein and Boyz Noize. In addition, he has frequently collaborated with luminaries such as James Murphy, Pusha T and, on No Fantasy Required, Hudson Mohawke, Paranoid London and Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters. Now, working with key producer Matthew Dear, and Finnish wizard Jori Hulkkonen (who also performs with him live), Tiga has made a record on which he says he feels “more honest, open and playful.”

No Fantasy Required is a collection of inspired songs that just happen to be delivered via the visceral dance music he’s a master of. It’s a proper album with songs and real character, one that takes you on a journey, but it’s also packed with instant bangers. It’s interesting, involving and beautifully crafted but it’s also funny, sexy and charismatic – just like the maverick who made it! Raised in a hippy commune in Goa before his family relocated to the bohemian hotbed of Montreal, Tiga didn’t even have to invent a nom de guerre. Everything he does is as arch as it is artful, and never fails to contain a huge dose of FUN. No fantasy is required both because this is an honest, open, playful record and also because it provides all the fantasy you could need.

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