Bshorty revels in his A.D.D.

AUDIO DAY DREAM - Blake Lewis

I’m going to ignore the fact that Blake Lewis stems from American Idol; otherwise I’ll end up in a long discussion about his performance on the show. Suffice to say, he wasn’t my favourite and I felt that he was over-hyped just a tad :P But as soon as I heard his catchy debut single, I knew I’d have to give the album a whirl.

Audio Day Dream (or ADD for short) is a genuine delight to listen to. First and foremost, it’s a fun, bright and breezy affair. For his first time out of the gate, Blake has wisely chosen to avoid tackling any important social issues. There’s not a profound word of wisdom in sight ;) The loss or pursuit of a girl is about as serious a topic as Blake is willing to broach.

During the Idol competition, Blake was mainly singled out because he had demonstrated a gift for beat boxing. Each week he used (and sometimes OVERUSED) this skill to great effect in his songs. I had feared that the album would be one long self-indulgent beat boxing orgy. Even though there IS some beat boxing present on the album, it thankfully never overshadows the songs. Only on one short track does he cut loose (but to be fair, that track is nothing BUT beat boxing).

One point of note is that the majority of the album is co-written and produced by “One Republic” front man (and producer du jour) Ryan Tedder and as such it has a very coherent sound to it. The disc is a perfect balance of modern production techniques and an old school 80s electronica vibe. And it just so happens that right now 80s music is back fashion, so even though Blake has wrapped himself in a retro cloak, the disc still manages to sound quite current.

The production can be a little heavy at times, but never to the detriment of the songs. Truth be told, even though his voice is very pleasant on the ears, it’s not as strong as it could be, so the production gives a little helping hand here and there.

This is one of those rare albums that actually gets stronger as it goes on, as opposed to most albums which lay all the good stuff upfront. Even the ballads (which carefully avoid sounding laboured or soppy) have a lovely flow to them and are spread quite evenly throughout the album for a bit of variety.

This is quality pop that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend!

Standout Tracks:

• Break Anotha
• Gots to Get Her
• How Many Words
• Surrender
• Heres My Hello
• Watcha Got 2 Lose
• She's Makin' Me Lose It
• End of the World