The intro for “Salt” is, well “Intro”. It’s actually pretty gorgeous with some super sad sounding pianos thrown in here and there, as well as some really nice vocals from Dan himself. Dan’s vocals have gotten a whole lot more distinct over the years, he’s come a long way from sounding like just another face in the overpopulated crowd that is “Alternative R&B”. As far as this intro goes, there’s not that much going on, there are some cliches here and there such as the rain falling in the background, so sad. But the atmosphere is heavy and Dan sounds solid, and it ushers in the sound of Shy Girls nicely. Up next is one of my favorite tracks here, “You Like The Pain Too”. First off, a whole lot of the elements from the intro have crossed over into this one, the biggest edition being Dan’s more commanding vocals. Lyrically, Shy Girls is far from a miracle maker, some may say this for sure is a little too run of the mill. However, as cheesy as some of this is I actually like it a lot, and that hook is absolutely solid man. Not to mention, I would certainly rather listen to this than mainstream R&B. About halfway through though, Shy Girls really pick up the pace on “You Like The Pain Too”. All of a sudden we have all of these grand, epic instrumentals that come crashing in and are actually pretty epic. It’s a slow burner for sure, but a super hip one. Dan’s stepped up his production game here as well, but all of this being said, I still would totally get it if someone wasn’t into this. “Watercolor Dreams” is up next, and to be honest I wasn’t expecting it to be nearly as upbeat and oddly funky, ESPECIALLY after how dreary Shy Girls’ music usually is. Honestly, “Watercolor Dreams” is like nothing Shy Girls has touched for his entire short career. I love the almost psychedelic feel to everything here, and Dan’s vocal performance is commendable. There’s a very creeping feeling to the instrumental the way everything is just flowing so smoothly behind these bouncy bass rhythms. To be honest, it’s probably the last thing I expected to hear out of Shy Girls, but it’s a pleasant surprise. Plus, all of this live instrumentation adds just plenty to Shy Girls’ sound. “Watercolor Dreams” is Shy Girls pushing out into brave new territory for the most part. Up next is one of the earliest tracks I’ve heard here, “Trivial Motion”. Right off the bat we’re dealing with a much hazier sound here, much like Shy Girls’ early material. However, this is all just a little much for me to be honest, as far as lyrics here go, this sounds like it could have been any R&B song of the last 10 years. As far as the instrumental goes, it’s certainly not that much better, this honestly sounds like the safest beat they could have gone with. To be honest, when I heard this single when I was preparing for this review, all I could say is UGH. Alternative R&B is a tough genre, one that you constantly have to stay on your feet and continue to be innovative. None of that happens here. “Trivial Motion” is just so safe sounding, not to mention incredibly repetitive. In a time where people are mostly criticizing Alternative R&B for being just so damn boring, this is the pinnacle of all of that. “Trivial Motion” almost put me to sleep.
"Why I Love" to be frank has quite the ugly start. The drums and all are fine, but the beat on top of it which is trying pretty desperately to be edgy just comes off ugly as hell. "Why I Love" unlike some other tracks here at the very least does have a nice atmosphere I can get into. Sam's vocals are on point as well, but as far as the total package goes man does this ever come up ridiculously short. As a whole, this track comes off more goofy than anything, so unbearably cheesy, and that 80's throwback chorus is certainly doing him no favors. This was another early track that I heard on here and almost didn't review the album in general. This album so far has been inconsistent as hell, especially after the first few tracks just seemed so adventurous. "Say You Will" on the other hand comes off a little bit edgier and certainly different. As far as the instrumental goes, this feels much more like a wildcard, and overall this is just so much more enjoyable. Dan here actually sounds pretty steamy, and these upbeat and eclectic instrumentals do wonders. "Say You Will" has a much more frantic feel to everything, a whole lot of this track is fantastic. The one thing I'm not necessarily sold on is that acoustic guitar floating throughout the background during the verses. That alone just comes off as a shallow appeal to seem so much more diverse and left field. "Say You Will" is far from perfect, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. "What If I Can" on the other hand starts off with a glitchy beat. So far, I feel like the production on this album has either been really solid or very questionable. The longer "Salt" goes on, the more and more Shy Girls gets more and more back to their old biggest fault of sounding too much like their contemporaries. I mean come on, this literally almost sounds entirely like a How To Dress Well track. "What If I Can" DOES pick up a little for the chorus and all, and yes it still comes off steamy. Lyrically this is bit of a tossaway, but I feel like so many of these tracks are just too simple. They're far from terrible, and you may have to shut your mind off to really enjoy a lot of this. Shy Girls music continues to be just alright. However, "What If I Can" thankfully does pick up a little towards the end when all of those instrumentals come in, I just wish overall it was a little more well written. "Time *Hell Won't Wait For Us" has a super slow start, to be honest I think the piano's are awfully powerful though. While this may be the most laid back sounding track we've heard here yet, I actually seriously dig Shy Girls performance here quite a bit. To be honest though, I think I would have liked this track even more if it wasn't for all of that extra instrumentation. While there isn't a lot of backing instrumentation, those guitars and bass are seriously cheesy and anything. I would have totally been fine here if we were left with just Dan and his piano. Outside of that, It's alright, once again I seriously have an issue with a lot of the lyrics but what are ya gonna do.
When it comes to “I Am Only A Man”, Dan saved his corniest for last let me tell you. First of all, this beat is barely there, it sounds like a mushed up mess of what could have been something interesting. Here, I’m just pleading that Shy Girls bring in more of a beat to just make this track a little freakin’ lively. To be honest, most of the more beat-centered tracks here have actually stuck with me a lot more. This on the other hand is just so awkward and cheesy, Shy Girls for the majority of this album has tried his hardest to sound different, but here sound anything but different. About a minute or so in however, things do pick up with these powerful blasts of synth coming in behind Dan’s ascending vocals. No, it’s not perfect and I could have used more powerful moments like the blasts of synths here, but Dan is slowly showing a little promise. Shy Girls may not be completely there yet, but this act is certainly starting to show potential. But just when I think I’m going to leave this album on a high note, “Collecting” comes in and is honestly a huge let down of a finale. This track is completely empty, desperate for anything to come in and save it. There’s a nice harmony here and there, but that’s literally it. Shy Girls is beginning to show some promise, but this album is messy as hell.
Rating: 6.9/10
Give A Listen To: “Watercolor Dreams”, “You Like The Pain Too”, “Say You Will”.
Overall Thoughts: While a lot of the material on here wasn't necessarily the worst thing I've heard this year, I have barely anything to even talk about which speaks volumes for this album. Shy Girls are slowly getting a distinct sound that I can point out and recognize, but they still have quite the ways to go.
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