David Archuleta

DAVID ARCHULETA
"THE OTHER SIDE OF DOWN"
(Jive, 2010)


"I've always been your token nice guy," sings David Archuleta on the track "Stomping The Roses", from his sophomore studio album "The Other Side of Down". That's not any great revelation to those of us who have followed the terminally adorable kid during and since his rise to runner-up of "American Idol" season 7. So it also shouldn't surprise us that there isn't any bitter heartache or sullen melancholy to drag down the mood of his latest release; instead, as with his debut, it's mostly either lightly wistful tunes about young love or optimistic anthems about the good things in life. But thankfully, none of the tracks are as off-puttingly adolescent as his first post-"Idol" single, "Crush".

He is still just nineteen years old, though, and with his boy-next-door demeanor and the sweetly husky voice we all fell in love with two years ago both still intact, it would seem wrong to expect any bitter heartache or sullen melancholy out of him quite yet. David has, however, jumped with both feet into the songwriting process, having co-written all but two of this album's songs, and just like he wowed us with his vocals, these first writing efforts show just as much potential. Some of my favorite tracks here are the lighter-than-air toe-tapper "Elevator", the soaring ballad "Parachutes And Airplanes", the soul-searching "Who I Am", and the rocking "Stomping The Roses" (co-written by Bryce Avary, better known by his artist name The Rocket Summer). The only thing I don't care for is the overuse of wordless refrains in the choruses of most of the songs on the first half of this album ... a trend whose popularity I trace back to (or, more to the point, blame on) Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

Most "Idol" artists follow a pattern in their album progression -- the first album is heavily commercial, professionally written and produced; the second is a comfortable step away, with a good amount of the singer's own input, but still very similar to their debut; and usually by the third album, the artist is able to deliver a sound that is fully of their own choosing, cutting the "Idol" strings once and for all. What do I hope to see David Archuleta do on his third album? By then he should be ready to move away from the white-boy-R&B that this album is peppered with, and more toward a pop or pop-rock style. Seeing as how he plays piano, he could easily take after Daniel Powter or Gavin deGraw.

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