jonatan leandoer96-Sugar World

Sugar World, Yung Lean’s new album released under his jonatan leandoer96 moniker, might be the sweetest he’s sounded. Not vocally, mind you–his crooning is as tuneless as ever–but he’s as charming and earnest as he looks on the cover. Sugar World is primarily a collection of ballads adorned with lush pop-rock instrumentation, and it’s a new direction for Lean, even under this name. His versatility is impressive, and this new album demonstrates that he isn’t afraid in the slightest of experimenting or branching out into new territory.

The music backing Yung Lean is glossy and easy-going, providing a wonderful juxtaposition with Yung Lean’s aforementioned vocal performance. Critics have decried his vocals as unpalatable throughout his career, so there’s nothing really new here on that front; yet others, whether they be long-time fans or curious newcomers, will appreciate the romance and quirkiness in his voice. Lyrically, nearly every song touches on affection and intimacy in some form, and it’s hard not to find Lean delightful and alluring as he sings about blue feelings, amusement parks, and remote-controlled love. In fact, this may be his strongest set of lyrics to date. It may be nothing extraordinary, but the combination of melancholy, wistful instrumentals and lovesick rhymes is evergreen. With the added layer of Yung Lean’s monotone vocal delivery, there’s a number of competing and compelling dimensions here that make repeated listens rewarding.

Perhaps no song exemplifies this better than “Rivers of Another Town,” a piano-backed jaunt that wouldn’t be out of place on an easy listening or soft-rock radio station. Yung Lean stretches (or rather, doesn’t) to hit lofty notes as the strings swell, and really, it just couldn’t be cuter. In other places, glitzy glam guitars give the songs a bit more of an edge, like on the opener, “Nightmare Amusement Park.” The different styles make the individual songs varied enough to be distinctive, even if their sheen feels a bit clinical at times. Still, that’s almost a bonus given Lean’s vocal performance–if his vocals were more melodic and generic, the album may have had the dreaded “background music” tag bestowed upon it. Instead, Sugar World is familiar yet unique, and delightful yet idiosyncratic.

-Ryus