Alone among the anonymous American Idol hopefuls at the beginning of season ten,
Casey Abrams
cut somewhat of a memorable figure -- possibly because he had the gumption to kiss judge
Jennifer Lopez
, possibly because behind his scruffy, friendly, hippie demeanor hid an old-fashioned, jazzy, blue-eyed soul singer. The latter is naturally emphasized on his 2012 eponymous debut for
Concord Records
, an album produced by American Idol's longest-serving judge,
Randy Jackson
.
Abrams
sings with a smile, never letting a grey cloud darken his blue sky --an attitude that's easier to adopt if you avoid sad songs, which he does throughout this sunny, mellow affair. It's all love songs and paeans to the wonders of a simple life, whether it's embracing a "Great Bright Morning" or eating mangos in a mango tree. Modern-day hippie that he is,
peppers his cheerful ditties with throwaway references to DVRs and Wi-Fi while he eases himself into the radio-ready waters of "Get Out" and adopts a bit of co-writer
Jason Mraz
's sing-songy folkie jazz, but this record still feels like a wannabe throwback to the '70s, right down to the elastic blues groove of "Blame It on Me," the funkiest thing here. Over the course of an LP, what was distinctive about
on AmIdol -- all the good cheer, the jazzy runs and scats, the way he leans just a little too hard into his phrases whenever he wants to seem soulful -- turn grating, but only mildly so: it's all a bit too sweet and dippy but it's hard to get mad at the amiable
. It'd be like getting angry at a puppy that only wants to get pets. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine