Review Summary: Depressed Ed Sheeran minus the white-guy rapping.
Just take a look at the title of this album. How is this little EP any different than the typical Grey's Anatomy-feature conclusion feature? Hell, the cover itself looks like a poor replicant of Vance Joy, Joshua Radin, or Nico Stai. And frankly, when push comes to shove, this is no different than any of that--lead single "Waves" was featured on an episode of Riverdale (where I first heard of this guy). It's frankly impossible to separate Dean Lewis from Ed Sheeran's massive influence. Acoustic guitar? Check. Synchronized beats? Check. Rap? Well, no, which is a relief. In spite of this, Dean Lewis creates a bite-sized batch of well-written indie pop tracks with subtly somber atmosphere and thoughtful lyrics.
As we're treated to reflective guitar plucking, kick drum and synchronized beats, choruses of "whoa", one finds that the highlights are the tracks that focus on minimal instrumental interference. Songs "Lose My Mind" and "Adore" are listenable, but fall flat because of excessive beats, too many keyboard flourishes, and Lewis' vocals taking a backseat to the pop-friendliness of the arrangements: "Adore" resonates too much with Taylor Swift's ambivalent and lazy "End Game"; "Let Go" and "Lose My Mind" sound too much like Mumford & Sons radio flings with pulsing kick drum and "whoa"s soaring across the glossy presentation; also, although a highlight, "Chemicals" resembles Ed Sheeran's "Lego House" to a tee (even having the same chord structure). Meantime, "Waves", "Need You Now", and "Chemicals" are all highlights because of Lewis' tortured tenor taking center stage. His Aussie accent adds to the desperation of lines "we watched as our young hearts fade into the flood" ("Waves"), "I don't need your love, I just need you now" ("Need You Now") and "hold me, I'm falling apart" ("Chemicals"). Lyrics are another benefit of this EP; Lewis doesn't whine superficially about love and heartbreak in seemingly typical singer-songwriter fashion. Rather, his lyrics resonate with authenticity and grit, rather than the glossy shades of pop cheesiness.
Another benefit as well is that this is a 6-track EP, and at 21 minutes it never overstays its welcome. Only one track exceeds four minutes (and only one second over at that) and the others sit comfortably around the 3:00 to 3:30 mark.
At the end of the day, yes, Dean Lewis is an Ed Sheeran clone. Beats, acoustic guitar, and accented white boy tenor greet listeners as "Same Kind of Different" opens, but one finds that it challenges the redundant cheesiness at its most vulnerable, even if it adds to it at its most polished, and the songs take one side or another. Stay for "Waves", leave for "Adore" and as a listen overall? Nothing lost, nothing gained.
