There are a few interesting melodies throughout and it's not bad as an ambient background track but nothing stood out. Some parts felt unfinished, others just uninspired. Nothing really objectionable, I just don't see any reason to revisit it. The bass clarinet part was neat.
Pros: fantastic 90s R&B + hip-hop, good use of skits, a couple great individual tracks (Doo Wop (That Thing) if nothing else), fantastic vocals throughout (if a little overdone). Cons: repetitive lyrics, over-reliance on the same style of chorus. Most of the songs have a refrain that's repeated over and over with an oversung call and response. It wouldn't have bothered me once or twice but it got pretty samey pretty quickly.
Solid R&B album, just not quite my taste. The album is very focused on his vocals and he's a capable singer but not my favorite. Clever songwriting, generally good production. (I hate to say it in 2025 now that we know the full extent of Kanye's problems but there are a couple moments/production elements that feel like there were lifted from 808s or MBDTF) If I found this on a different day I might have liked it better. Lost is the standout track for me.
Very simple, clean production, good variety across the tracks. I don't know if it's going to enter my regular rotation - I'm honestly just not a big fan of Elliott Smith's voice - but it sorta feels like a rosetta stone for all the later indie bands I do listen to. Definitely deserves a more thorough listen later on.
A perfect album
I liked it a lot more than I expected. I feel like if you can describe something as dreamy French alt pop, I'm either going to love it or hate it for entirely arbitrary reasons. I loved the instrumentals and vocals all throughout. Some songs are definitely more memorable than others but they're all good. I will be exploring this more in the future. Note to self: learn the bass part from Beatrix