Young Love

The Summer Slump is in full evidence this Tuesday, as only five named CD's (at least according to NRT) came out this week. There was also a various artist multi-CD release, but for the moment we wont consider them in the mix. They will make the rewind, however.

The only release to get a full album preview is Young Love, the sophmore release by Mat Kearney (Pronounced CAR-nee), and no I didn't type the first name wrong. That's how it is spelled. There are ten tracks, most of them of the pop variety, and the album is pretty good. My only gripe is the last track. Entitled Rochester, there is a brief introduction at the beginning by Kearney saying that it is a song about his father, who grew up in Rochester, New York. In my opinion, it is one of the most depressing songs I've ever heard, and I would not picked it as the final cut. People tend to remember the last thing they heard, so I would have picked one of the upbeat songs to finish up and buried this one somewhere in the middle.

Now, to the rest of the album. The album kicks off with the pop-reggae Hey Mama, and pretty much  is the tempo for the rest of the album, with the exception of the aformentioned Rochester and the slow but still somewhat upbeat Ships in the Night.

Young Love is one of those albums that is enjoyable, yet doesn't blow you away as you listen to it. There are ten songs in all.

1. Hey Mama
2. Ships in the Night
3. Count on Me
4. Sooner or Later
5. Chasing the Light
6. Learning to Love Again
7. Down
8. She Got the Honey
9. Young, Dumb and in Love
10. Rochester

Count on Me is pretty cute (HEY!). It has a Jackson 5 vibe.  Seems like a lot of people remember that ABC 123 song. This would be a great album if it weren't for Rochester, in my opinion. Even the slow ballads (Chasing the Light, Ships in the Night, Learning to Love Again) have enough pop to keep you toe tapping throughout the album. I'm sorry, that last cut is a real downer.

I'm going to do my best to ignore Rochester, but the best I can do is mitigate it. I'll give Young Love 4 Emeralds. That will put it in the initial pool for the 4th Quarter, but I don't know if it will make it to the final 7 for Pop, it's most likely genre.

That should do it for now. I hope everyone enjoyed Soulfest last week, at least if you were in New Hampshire. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.