4/10

Norwegian duo Nico & Vinz have become an unlikely success story so far this year thanks to the release of their breakthrough single 'Am I Wrong'. Taking the approach of an EDM outfit and stripping it back to its bare bones have allowed these two to tap into a side of the scene that has never been tried before and helped carve their own path to mainstream success. But even with a focused direction and infinite possibilities in a new sound, these two haven't managed to find their feet within this new album.

'Black Star Elephant' may have all the hallmarks of a great debut, but there simply isn't enough diversity or soul to keep this record interesting. With such a positive start, the album never really breaks away from its basic formula and the result is 21 tracks that are pretty much the same song. It just seems to go on forever and without a break from how it begun, grows very tiresome after the halfway mark.

Its main issue is the album's length. 21 tracks is just far too many to digest in one go, giving it far too much filler to really enjoy as a whole. There are at least half a dozen decent songs on here which could have been the focus to build on, but in the end they have just done too much too soon.