DOMi & JD Beck’s recent sophomore release, WHO ASKED? is, unfortunately, not tight. Not in the instrumentation—which is tight as sin due to these players being virtuosos at their respective instruments—but due to the mixing of this album.
WHO ASKED? is a 16-song album in which DOMi & JD Beck both sing while slaying on their respective instruments (piano/synth and drums), and there is some light jazz flute, harp, and other gorgeous woodwind work, but it is unfortunately all lost due to the over-processing of the vocals being pushed right to the centre. Domi Louna and JD Beck have fine voices, and unfortunately they sing in the same register, key, and tone on basically every song on this thing, making it rather monotonous.
By “GROWiNG OLDER,” I was sure I was listening to the same 10-minute song, when in reality I was five songs into this album. The drumming is super quiet, and all of Louna’s keyboard wizardry is lost in the shuffle whenever the vocals appear. And since all of the songs are in weird, Berklee jazz student timings, all of the vocals need to be syncopated and off-beat, which is clearly done through the digital edit, giving a ballady song like “SMALL EYES” an uncanny lo-fi feel. I’m sorry, but the lyrics should not sound like a Myspace-era mix.
I understand that DOMi & JD Beck were going for a more jazz-pop vibe on WHO ASKED? and adding vocals definitely does that, but man, get some vocal features so it all doesn’t sound the same. I bet Anderson .Paak was available again, just like on the debut, NOT TiGHT. Anyways, it seems like there is an instrumental version of WHO ASKED? coming, so maybe I’ll check that out.
