Young Love

YOUNG LOVE
"ONE OF US"
(Island, 2009)


It seems to have happened a lot lately: I grow tired of an artist's debut album, then out of the blue their sophomore release totally wins me over -- sometimes so much that I have to go re-buy their first album because I had already traded it in. Such is the case with Young Love. Whereas their first album was almost entirely dance-pop in the sonic neighborhood of Sam Sparro, this time around frontman Dan Keyes and company have chosen to employ more rock-oriented instrumentation on many of the tracks, as well as broadening the range of moods in the songs.

I can hear shades of U2 ("Unafraid"), Duran Duran ("Love For Sale"), and most every other artist that started out in the '80s, especially if they tended to take aim at the dance floor, but that's not to say the whole album is for dancing -- an affecting ballad ("Down On Me") gives the feet a rest in the middle of the album. The only unfortunate thing about this album is its criminally short run time (quite a bit less than 40 minutes) ... but then, since it goes by so quickly, that makes me appreciate it all the more.

I should have known better than to trade in "Too Young To Fight It" (just a few weeks before, though I didn't realize until a few weeks after, "One Of Us" was released); listening to it again since buying its follow-up has given me a renewed appreciation for it. Just when I think I've had my fill of electro-pop, another artist in the subgenre comes along and unexpectedly enamors me of it all over again (Blake Lewis, then Sam Sparro, and now Young Love). I don't know if I can really call myself a "fan" of electro-pop, but I don't think it'd take a whole lot more convincing.

The Picture - Young Love