Hi, everyone. Oontzthony Oontztano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new Joost album, Unity.

Here is the latest full-length LP from Dutch singer, rapper, and songwriter Joost, or Joost Klein, a figure whose profile has been rising on the European music scene ever since he had that respectable Eurovision run a year or so ago. And Joost is an artist who wears many hats. Like I said, he's part singer, he's part rapper, he's also part electronic music artist, part internet personality, part satirist and absurdist. There are elements of his art and style and presentation that I think the American mind just can't comprehend.

But it's not like there aren't analogous figures out there in the world of entertainment and music for sure. I would definitely draw some comparisons to the likes of Oliver Tree, for example, given Joost's similar social media antics experience on platforms like YouTube. I think fans of Dorian Electra could maybe see something in his really over-the-top outfits and presentation. There's something very Andrew WK about his whole shtick as well in terms of, especially on this album, it being really positive and bright and hopeful to the point of it feeling maybe a bit cultish and campy.

I think there are also parallels on this album to any number of internet age rappers that do make serious seriously enjoyable, entertaining music, but are a little tongue and cheek about it for sure. I also think Joost has a lot in common with a fellow European experimentalist weirdos like Tommy Cash, who is also featured on this album.

So absolutely Joost's appeal is a bit niche, but it's still very much there. And I think whether or not it works for you really will come down to whether or not his silly sense of humor makes you laugh and whether or not this record's reverence for the old-school rave scene and Euro dance music actually hits for you.

This entire record is 16 tracks, 36 minutes of run time, and there's a few interludes and short cuts in the mix there as well. While I think there are many highlights on this record, there's also a lot of unrealized potential, too. For example, on some tracks, I think Joost's sense of humor isn't quite as sharp or as layered as it could be. "United by Music" – this is one of many tracks on the record that sends out this message of unity and positivity, and also makes mention of the power that the rich hold in society and war. But rather than genuinely raising class awareness and making some joke, poking fun at ravers who may be oblivious to these things or might be indecisive politically or fence sitting, all the irony on this track instead feels like it is ushered in in order to just deliver some crass humor around sexuality and race, with a final line deflecting any lack of depth in the song's humor.

Which... I don't know, it seemed like it was doing something at least a little deep for a second there. The only reason it didn't fully hit that mark was that it didn't go 2-3 steps further like it could have. For an album that works behind the development of a character and is trying to be funny on some level, it doesn't feel like Joost is fully embracing the whole rave and hard style revivalist angle in a way that is all that ironic.

I mean, there's actually some fun, thrilling, hard style production on this record that leads me to believe that I feel like you're doing this under the guise of a joke to give yourself an excuse just to do it because you actually just do want to make this music.

I mean, the song "Euro Papa" is a key single from this record. And despite the cartoony rapping on the track, there do seem to be some genuine sentiments behind it in terms of it being inspired by his late father and just telling the story of this guy traveling, living in Bohemian lifestyle in Europe.

Meanwhile, "Luchtballoon" is a genuine piece of Eurodance bliss, complete with pianos and melodies that are borrowed from Richard Marx's "I'll Be Right Here, Waiting". And the lyrics on the track do seem to come, at least on some level, from a serious desire for escapism.

There is another attention-grabbing interpolation on the track "1", which brings in some lyrics and melody lines from the hook of Fun's "We Are Young". But I mean, that's exactly the type of sample work that would go down well in the context of this music's heyday. I could actually see people raving to a track like this if the somewhat cheeky lyrics on the track didn't impact your desire to dance.

There are other moments deeper into the tracklist where Joost is really working the comedy angles of this record, and for the most part, it works on "BOOM BOOM!!!!!", which is like this over-the-top sexual dance anthem that gives almost some Kyle Gordon-type parody vibes.

And there's also genuine bangers like "Filthy Dog", which again does have some cartoony rapping and lyrics on it, but it is this just absolutely aggressive techno barn burner about avoiding a fight with a German guy, with production so good that you have to give credit where it's due.

Now, while these moments I thought were pretty enjoyable, there are just as many tracks that I think land somewhere in the middle. They're not really out there or funny enough to warrant a laugh, nor are they serious enough about their craft to result in a versatile, wild, blood-pumping, hard-style experience that would genuinely rock the Thunderdome in 1996, either by virtue of average production or very basic rap verses, or just not committing to the bit hard enough.

Either way, this Joost record, in my opinion, is a bit of a mixed bag, and I feel like that's as a result of it not really knowing what it wants to do. Does it want to be fully silly or indulge in all of these hard style thrills and rave nostalgia? It's hard to say because it's only doing some of it well, some of the time, which is why I'm feeling a light to decent 6 on this album.

Anthony Fantano. Joost. Forever.