Review Summary: More than the sum of its parts, and less than the difference of its similarities.
Stephen Swartz is a man with everything to lose, and much to prove. As a musician, producer, singer, and writer for the one act project "Stephen", Swartz finds himself in an odd position in a genre filled to the brim with such commercialism and vapid production as Synthpop and Pop. Nowadays, Pop isn't exactly looked at with much awe; with most of Pop being factory made with armies of interns, writers, producers, and musicians. Despite this, Pop is generally an easy money-maker. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that the artist Stephen is looked at with general cynicism as expectations are, as predicted, very low.
That isn't going to stop Stephen from making one of the most solid debut albums of 2016. In
Sincerely Stephen draws out his emotion, finesse, and heart while creating a picture that speaks of both pain and ease. One of the more striking tracks on the album is
Mr. Man, a track featuring a combination of claps, small base, and his trademark synth wobbles. One important thing to note about Stephen is that his production doesn't follow usual Pop guidelines. He tends to create rhythms by deliberately messing up a prior rhythm, and then twisting it into something else. A fine example of this is in
Fly Down where he begins with a generic piano rhythm in the beginning, only to continue with a synth beat that is chopped up into pieces and then reassembled so that it pumps in and out in intensity and volume. The result creates something almost beautifully ugly (if that is even possible). That doesn't entirely mean that Stephen is all about making messy beats and weird loops. In
Remembering Myself, he creates a simple guitar tune with some drums that follow a usual guideline as he busts in halfway with over-dubbed vocals and a bouncing synth rip.
Of course I would be remiss if I didn't talk about
Sincerely's standout track,
Crossfire. Being the first of two singles, Crossfire set the tone for his upcoming album when it came to its somber lyrics, janky production, and pop friendliness. Unlike most Synthpop music nowadays, Stephen doesn't fill his lyrics with songs of love and breakups; nor are they written by an office full of writers. In this album he is 100% himself, his lyrics all his. In
Crossfire especially, we see Stephen sing of violent city streets, murder, and God like he was singing the final hymn before Judgement Day. His lyrics are not amateur either, he combines beautiful wordplay with emotional vocal delivery. A perfect example would be from
Crossfire's main ballad:
Heaven if you sent us down,
so we can build a playground,
for the sinners playing saints,
you'd be so proud of what we made.
I hope you've got some beds around,
'cause you're the only refuge now,
for every mother, and every child; every brother,
that's caught in the crossfire.
Sincerely is Stephen trying to tell us he is not your average, run-of-the-mill, Owl City-wannabe, Synthpop star. With this debut album, Stephen presents himself like a new neighbor who has just moved to our city block. He goes door to door, giving us a present. Within this present, contains the heart and soul of a man who wishes to show you all the things he can offer to your neighborhood. With
Sincerely he hopes you will accept him despite him not being anything special. That humble sense of foundation, is what sets this album above many of its contemporaries.
