Until Now [Deluxe Edition]

Photographer: Fredrik Skogkvist.
With Until Now, house music supergroup Swedish House Mafia (Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso) offer their second compilation of productions, remixes, and favored tracks, following the blueprint of their 2010 set Until One. The bad news is that the album coincides with the group's splitting up and farewell tour, but the good news is that the dancefloor fillers are bigger and more powerful this time out, starting right with the group's own opener, "Greyhound," which combines a Gary Numan-esque new wave bassline with pure post-trance bliss. It's a keeper, as is their "kick this party up/start a riot" anthem with Knife Party called "Antidote," while their Tinie Tempah team-up "Miami 2 Ibiza" also goes back to the '80s and puts some Kraftwerk-like robot beats behind the U.K. rapper's double-time swagger. It's hard not to put hands in the air once Coldplay and the trio team up for an increasingly uplifting remix of "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall," and with vocalist and frequent Swedish House Mafia collaborator John Martin bringing the power ballad to the club with the sweaty and gutsy floor-filler "Don't You Worry Child," Until One is easily topped by this swan song. Still, there's little here that suggests Swedish House Mafia is more than the sum of its parts, and as Axwell, Angello, and Ingrosso split into three equally powered powerhouses, it seems this supergroup was more a fun lark than a focused project. Still, it's as fun as larks come, and for the legions of fans they picked up while spinning the Miami to Ibiza circuit, it's a welcome souvenir. ~ David Jeffries