Diplo - Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley: Chapter 2 - Swamp Savant (Expanded Edition) (2023)

The second chapter of Diplo's country adventure is subtitled Swamp Servant but the mini-LP itself -- six songs, less than half the length of the first chapter -- doesn't wallow in the mud and murk, not even with the presence of country grungester Koe Wetzel. It's a breezy affair, so effervescent that even cranky Sturgill Simpson gets down to a refurbished disco beat. Swamp Servant moves swiftly and softly, cycling through cameos by Lily Rose, Paul Cauthen, Morgan Wade, Parker McCollum, and Kodak Black, a cast of characters that runs the gamut from the mainstream to cult sensations. It's a lot of personality but Diplo chooses to sand all their rough edges so they suit his needs; their varying vocal grains don't add personality or hooks, they merely provide texture to his rhythms. Apart from the featured artists, very little of this reads as country: maybe McCollum adds a touch of lonesome to "Lonely Long" and Cauthen sings with a weathered growl, but this all plays like shiny dance-pop. Diplo polishes all these cameos so it shimmers alluringly, yet this is also light enough to blow away on its own breeze. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo