Salt sounds like the tracks that didn’t make it on The Weeknd’s first project, Trilogy. I don’t mean this as an insult, in fact in this context it is a compliment. This project has a lot of replay value and while Portland PBR&B singer (I got that term off Wikipedia :l) sounds like a mini less confident and more angsty version of The Weeknd, it works well for him. There truly is no dull moment on this project in my opinion and I am eager to have this in rotation until the new Migos project comes out and maybe a couple months later.
Salt, starts off with, as I said, a very angsty tune “You Like the Pain Too” which feels like a ballad about his lover being hurt just as much as he does. Honestly the whole project is full of angst with lyrics like, “There is no time only us and the oceans” and “inch by inch you drift apart.” While these lyrics seem dramatic to read, Shy Girls delivers them in such a way that makes you think he is dealing with something serious. It feels like he knows he’s being headass, but he simply doesn’t care if you think he is or not. Personally, I feel that if Shy Girls were trying to be as serious as Frank, Beyoncé, or Miguel this project would have been exactly like that Roy Woods project that came out last year (I hated Nocturnal). Shy Girls has mastered the art of embracement much like Drake has.
The production is literally a mixture of every Abel project to be released to date. It comes complete with distortion and lots of cool instruments that I don’t care to look up right now. Apparently, it was self-produced by Shy Girls himself. This speaks to his ingenuity and his craftiness behind the boards as well as in front of them. I personally think if he chose one or the other, production or song-writing, he could have a fruitful career.
What is most remarkable about this project is the length. Not the number of tracks, ten including an unnecessary intro, but the length of the verses on every song. No verse on this album exceeds 12 bars. If any of you know how to count music, then you know that length is no longer than a chorus for most commercial R&B songs. I find this remarkable because it seems that Shy Girls is saying so much, but he isn’t. He’s coming in giving us the bare minimum and getting out. At the end of the day that’s all I can ask for from a project of this magnitude to be successful. I don’t need fluff I need the important stuff or the stuff that the artist thinks is important.
All in all, I was impressed with Salt. I think Shy Girls did put together a solid release to start off the year. However, I could totally understand why someone would not like this project. My worst critique is that it sounds too much like The Weeknd, and biggest praise is that it sounds exactly like The Weeknd. Shy Girls is nothing like Salt at all.
