Paul Kalkbrenner

Paul Kalkbrenner is something of a unique phenomenon in dance music. Visit his Facebook and you'll see a whopping 2.4 million people have clicked 'like' on his page, but speak to an average Ibiza punter and his name's not likely to carry the same level of recognition as, say, Solomun or Loco Dice.

But even if he lacks the profile of the average superstar DJ, don't doubt that Kalkbrenner isn't properly massive – and if you want to know how he's become so successful, look no further than his seventh studio album proper.

Unusually for a dance music artist, the album format is where Kalkbrenner really thrives and '7', with its 12 tracks of deep, melodic and emotive house music, comes with a real focus on songwriting and a touch of universal appeal that has as much in common with the likes of U2, Coldplay and 'Play'-era Moby as it does your typical house DJ from Berlin.

Tracks like 'Cloud Rider', 'Feed Your Head' and 'A Million Days' are slightly overwrought piano ballads that a certain Mixmag staffer described as 'Springsteen house'. But it's not all heartfelt crooning, with both 'Mothertrucker' and 'Align The Engine' proving that Kalkbrenner is just as good at building club workouts as he is at tugging on the heartstrings.

'7' might be lacking in edge, but makes up for it with warm ambience and some quality songwriting.

Release Date August 7

Have a listen to 'Feed Your Head' below.