Blake Lewis Album: “Audio Day Dream [Bonus Track]”

So I really liked Blake Lewis' musical taste and experimentation on American Idol, tolerated the beatboxing but wasn't necessarily in love with it, was sure Jordin and Melinda outdid him on vocals and had absolutely no idea what his first album would sound like.

The label gave Blake relatively free rein on this album and he was heavily involved, with a writing credit on all but one of the tracks and I suspect a hand in production for all of them. There's an overall concept of "updated 80s mixtape", with various fusions of rock, pop, funk, r&b and soul with an overlay of a heavy 80s vibe of synth and electro effects.

What it all blends into is what I think is the first true pop record that hasn't fallen victim to Idol's "safe and sold" route. It's nicknamed A.D.D. for a reason, but somehow it all hangs together, and Blake keeps his reputation for eclectic style with substance. First thing you'll think: "Oh jeez, the 80s are back!", then "Hm, maybe that's not so bad after all."

The beatboxing is fairly minimal (except for one track which is *just* beatboxing) and his vocals are good enough for the job. The music is more about the beats, melodies, and production - lots of layers and little details; you really have to hear this through headphones to get the full experience. There are fun interludes between many of the tracks but I wish they'd gotten their own tracks instead of being stuck on the ends of songs.

1. Silence is Golden - short intro track, electro sound. Blake did a lot of EDM and ambient style singing in his former life and snuck it in on this and the Outro.

2. Break Anotha - First single, takes a guitar line from Jane's Addiction, adds beats and a Jekyll & Hyde storyline in the lyrics and turns out a club banger. Highlight is the crazy drum breakdown in the bridge, produced by Blake himself. 4/5

3. Gots To Get Her - Clever take on "Puttin On The Ritz", very catchy, another club song, the second single? 4/5

4. Know My Name - More mellow R&Btype track, reminded me of Musiq's "Just Friends". Lupe Fiasco guest-raps; catchy chorus, the bridge is the highlight here too. 4/5

5. How Many Words - Breakup letter to the ex, first of the surprising number of ballads on the disc. Nice layering of harmonies, maybe the vocal scratching is unnecessary but the song might drag a bit without it. 4.5/5

6. Surrender - First of the iffy tracks in the middle, first of the more obviously 80s songs on the disc. Good beat, catchy but it starts to all sound the same around the middle of the song. The only track Blake doesn't have a writing credit on. 2.5/5

7. Hate 2 Love Her - And here come the M5 comparisons. A little too similar to the songs in this part of the disc for me, doesn't really stand out. 2/5

8. Without You - The slow sappy ballad on the disc; would be right at home as the last song at a 1986 senior prom. Weakest track on the disc for me, could've done without it. 1/5

9. Here's My Hello - I get a lot of variety of reaction on this from people who hear it. Some say it's hot and should definitely be the next single, some say meh, doesn't stand out. I'm of the second group. Can't deny it's catchy though. 2/5

10. What'cha Got To Lose - Moving back into better territory. This is a more uptempo track, co-written with Idol buddy Chris Richardson and based off one of Blake's pre-Idol original songs. Hints of Tupac's California Love? 3/5

11. She's Makin Me Lose It - Okay, I gotta give this 5 cause it's SO PRINCE. Lots of fun! bt produced on this. 5/5

12. BShorty Grabs Mic! - Beatbox track, you'll love it or hate it. I guess he had to have one of these on here if this CD was really gonna be him. 1.5/5

13. End of The World - Now moving into the end section of electro-ballads. This to me is the strongest one, lots of lush layering, less boyband than you'd think. One of my faves. 5/5

14. 1000 Miles - So supposedly there's a "Sting-meets-Neverending-Story" song somewhere on the disc, and I think this is it :) Nice beat, melody flies, great driving song, another fave for me. 4.5/5

15. I Got U - Last full track, sweet melody, midtempo (none of these are true slow ballads except for Without You), ends the album on an up note. 4/5

16. I Choose Noise - Outro, the ambient/edm effects Blake likes so much.

Overall: Good strong debut with a unique sound. Hopefully enough people out there can set aside American Idol and give this CD a fair chance, because barring some same-ish sounding songs in the middle (I won't say boyband but I won't blame you if you do) this is a very smart, listenable album with lots of interesting ideas. Looking forward to more from Blake! Music is 4/5, but skewing to five stars cause originality should be encouraged ;)