"With Love & Grease."
Shelley used to be known as D.R.A.M, releasing that breakout single 'Broccoli' and his debut that has so much joyful flair on the production, lyrics, and especially his rapping and singing, which proves that he's got a lot more to show off in future projects.
And it took 5 years for this new project, and with Shelley dropping the DRAM moniker, it seems that he's showing something different in this album.
Indeed, it is quite different, focusing more on the R&B and Neo-Soul in this album. And while I do miss the humor that he sparkled on his debut, he's focusing on bringing more maturity to the love songs that give it a lot of charm.
For the performances, Shelley just kept bringing it all throughout this album, showing off his rich timbre with such smoothness and charm that makes most songs extremely lush when he adds a lot of multitracking in them. And for the features, they do mix well with Shelley's tone, from Summer Walker, H.E.R, and Erykah Badu even if she plays a bit lowkey on ''93 Acura Vigor'.
The lyrics are also quite solid for the most part as well, a bunch of romantic songs with enough detail to show Shelley's maturity and sensitivity towards the women that he meets, as well as providing some complexity on the themes. From the infidelity on 'Married Woman', the desire to fix a relationship on 'Remedies', and especially the introspection on wealth and fame on 'Rich & Famous' that ends out the album pretty well.
I think where the album starts to lose me quite a bit comes towards the production and the melodies. There are some melodies that come off a bit awkward like 'Something About Us' and ''93 Acura Vigor', even if the former has this funky groove that works really well. And for the production, my complaint is that some songs can feel a bit syrupy that just doesn't work for me that much, 'Cooking With Grease' and 'Married Woman' are some examples.
But for the most part, a lot of the songs just hit strongly for me. The slow build-up on 'Exposure' with that gorgeous melody, the sparkling instrumentation on 'Beautiful', the jaunty groove on 'Rich & Famous', the lowkey melody on 'Cooking With Grease', the slow yet potent grooves on 'All Pride Aside' and 'The Lay Down' with the potent guitar solo on the latter song.
It took 5 years, but the wait was worth it. Showing off Shelley's strength as a performer yet again, with solid songwriting, production, and melodies. While some songs didn't really stick with me that much, I still have a lot of fun with the album.
Favorite Tracks: Exposure, Remedies, Beautiful, The Lay Down, All Pride Aside, Rich & Famous, Cooking with Grease.
Least Favorite Track: Married Woman