Mark your calendars 鈥� in the summer of 2024, became less a singer-songwriter and more a vibe. The Texas artist's 16-track 鈥淪incere鈥� is a collection of beautiful harmonies and airy and spare rhythms, melting together like a sticky popsicle on the dash.
It's music you should listen to on a dark highway on the way home after being up all night, headlights steady and hands surfing the summer air as the sun peaks up again. Whatever Khalid is singing about 鈥� drug addiction, depression, love, breakups, freezing cold and soaring temperatures, high or sober 鈥� just zips along without leaving much of a trace.
鈥淪incere鈥� marks Khalid鈥檚 first full-length project since his 2019 release, 鈥� with the terrific singles 鈥淭alk鈥� and 鈥淏etter鈥� 鈥� an album that was selected among the AP鈥檚 top collections in 2019.
The new one likely won't make anyone's 2024 list, maybe because we've learned what to expect from Khalid or maybe because the artist is just treading water.
There are some outstanding tunes 鈥� 鈥淟ifted,鈥� with its lazy guitar lick, and the punchy 鈥淓verything We See鈥� 鈥� but the cumulative effect is numbness. Too many songs come and go without a noticeable difference. The whispery prayer 鈥淏roken鈥� leads to the ghostly harmonies of "Who鈥檚 There To Pick Me Up." Even Khalid's attempt to change up his vocals 鈥� like on 鈥淕round,鈥� sung partly with gritted teeth 鈥� fails to jolt us out of our lazy high.
Though he鈥檚 known to collaborate with everyone from Halsey to Kane Brown, Khalid again keeps the guest list light here, with only Arlo Parks jolting the album into something intriguing on 鈥淏reathe.鈥� He clearly needs her a lot more than she needs him.
Songs like 鈥淭ainted,鈥� 鈥淟ong Way Home鈥� and 鈥淗eatstroke鈥� would be home runs on anyone else's album, but here they're mostly filler 鈥� colors and atmospheres and moods all too familiar.
鈥淚 never thought it鈥檇 be over so quickly,鈥� he sings on the final song, 鈥淒ecline.鈥� He's talking about a lost love, of course, but it might as well describe the entire 鈥淪incere.鈥� It's got vibes but no soul.
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Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
