Album Review: Alison Wonderland - Awake

Sydney's Alison Wonderland is arguably one of the most successful club crossover artists in history.

Long established as a world-class DJ, the past five years have seen her successfully make the jump to the recorded realm as a vocalist/producer with a pop-friendly style that's heavy, expressive, commercial and surprisingly innovative. It's a difficult trick.

Unfortunately, Wonderland hasn't mastered the longplayer format with the same aplomb. Her 2015 debut album Run boasted some killer moments (and, in the form of U Don't Know, a single for the ages) but ultimately proved too inconsistent to work as a full-length statement. Awake is stronger, but it still frustrates as often as it inspires. That said, it's a more satisfying effort than her debut. It bodes well for the future.

On Run, too many songs were just disposable. By contrast, Awake has a breathtaking moment in each production. The issue is that Wonderland only occasionally builds those moments into songs. Too many cuts just feel incomplete - build-ups to a brief drop, awkward structures. There are some awe-inspiring finished cuts (single No is a true standout) but there aren't enough of them. Close, but not quite.