"Powerful" - Major Lazer ft Ellie Goulding & Tarrus Riley [YouTube Official Lyric Video]

Major Lazer has gone through an interesting evolution since its conception. Initially a duo -- consisting of american producer Diplo and British producer Switch -- a creative fissure in the group following their first album lead to Diplo assuming full creative control.

The initial purpose of Major Lazer was to reconcile Jamaican dancehall music with current mainstream EDM / pop, and their first record, Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do, had tracks like "Pon De Floor'" and "Bruk Out" that did exactly that: take novel aspects of both genres and combine them to make a creative, energetic, and unique new product. Since then, Major Lazer has followed the path of most rising hip hop, R&B, and electronic artists, drifting further and further towards mainstream pop. As Major Lazer's popularity rose, more mainstream artists have become collaborators (Pharrell Williams and Sean Paul come to mind), and the new music has gotten blander and more formulaic.

"Powerful," off Major Lazer's upcoming third album Peace Is The Mission, feels like the culmination of this trend. The track contains verses from Ellie Goulding that sound remarkably similar to all her other features, and the fantastic timbre of reggae singer Tarrus Riley's voice is hampered by an unimaginative if not powerful chorus.

One thing fans of the early Major Lazer can relish is that for every lackluster track like "Powerful" or "Come On To Me," there will be an interesting track like "Too Original" or "Jessica."

Available on June 1, you can pre-order Peace Is The Mission on Amazon (Vinyl, CD).

For more of Major Lazer's music, news, and tour dates, check out his Zumic Artist Page.

Source: Major Lazer Official YouTube Channel