"Khamari - A Brief Nirvana" Utterly Lifeless

 

    Obligatory intro about how I know nothing about this artist or this album. Shoutout to my friend Slayer for recommending it though, I do tend to enjoy reviews where I have no bias or preconceived notions tainting my opinion, regardless of how I actually feel about the projects. It's pretty short all things considered so hopefully I don't feel like it's bogging me down. I guess I like Frank Ocean's music, and I really enjoyed Isolation by Kali Uchis, so technically I enjoy music from this genre? Even still, I'm such a tourist that I would not consider myself knowledgeable about it at all. So without further ado, my track-by-track review.

A Brief Nirvana - Khamari

Wax Poetic - 65/100 I'm not too crazy about the flow and delivery in the verses, but I do think that the chorus has a decent enough hook that makes me enjoy it. This song is pretty short though and all he pretty much says the entire time is that he's not very good at verbalizing his thoughts. So the song itself was fine enough, but I think it either definitely could have used more substance or been catchier to compensate for the lack of it.

Doctor, My Eyes - 55/100 Probably some of the same complaints as the last song. Even though this song is longer it still feels underdeveloped, though much of the length is the voice note at the end. I can definitely feel the Frank Ocean influence on this song, in fact he sounds exactly like Frank when he says "would you?" in the chorus. It doesn't help that half of the verse is just repeated. I do think the guitars are a nice touch to help with the vulnerability of the track though. It's not that it's awful but it just doesn't give me enough. Like he understands how to get the right vibe for the song, but it's missing the "it" factor.

Drifting - 60/100 Now this is a bit of a shame. In my opinion this is the most exciting beat I've heard so far off of the album, and the verses are pretty solid too. The only issue is the chorus is quite underwhelming, I'm not saying it needed to be louder or faster specifically but it does feel too chill. It could have definitely used a stronger punch and this song would be better in my opinion.

Cherry Picking - 65/100 I'm not sure how to feel about him always putting vocal effects/layering on his voice, especially when he's trying to sound earnest or vulnerable (and still does), and is a good singer to boot. I think I do enjoy this song, as short as it is, the guitar in the background was a nice touch in my opinion.

A Sacred Place - 45/100 I'm not saying I hate slow songs, but frankly it's starting to get a bit much from this Frank Ocean clone. I'm not saying there's not potential here, I haven't hated a song yet, but all of them are clearly missing something. They're not catchy enough, they're not long enough, and frankly it's starting to feel a little formulaic.

Tell Me - 50/100 What if he just used more than his voice for the verses, instead of having himself carry it with a drum beat. He's singing, and I can see the lyrics but I just don't feel anything if I'm going to be honest. Like the most excited I became for this song was when the guitar solo came, and even then it's alright at best.

Changing Yourself (Gil's Interlude) - N/A

Right My Wrongs - 60/100 Woah I might actually enjoy a song on this album. Is it because I really enjoy the song it's sampling? Probably. Okay I actually kind of enjoy this song, but 90% of that is the sample, like I'd rather just listen to the original song. Honestly, I think he should have done more with this song. He literally sings over the original song for the chorus how lazy can you be? I understand that Didn't I is a fantastic song but you have to do more than basically sing over the original song.

These Four Walls - 40/100 As the album goes on my patience for a good song I might actually enjoy also wanes.. As usual I'm just left wanting more from Khamari, and frankly I don't have much to say other than I hope he gets better.

On My Way - 40/100 I take back anything I may have said about this album being short enough that I would never complain about it's length.

Requiem - 40/100 I forgot to give this song a score originally and I think that says a lot about how little I cared about this album by the time it ended.

Final Score: 45/100

    I think it's concerning when the song I'm most excited to hear is the song that you didn't do yourself on an album. What I will say about this album is that Khamari has a clear vision of what he wants this album to sound like. The only issue is that it wears thin very quickly after about 15 minutes, especially when every song sounds the same, is the same pace, has the same energy, and also just sounds like someone trying to do a Frank Ocean impression. It's nice that all of these songs are short so I didn't feel like they dragged on more, but that's also because most of them feel underdeveloped and have little to say. Like I said before if you're going to go short and have little substance you're going to have to make songs that are catchier to compensate, and for Khamari it's just not here with this album. I was close to giving this album a 50 but then I tried to think of a song that I actually enjoyed off of this album and decided I was being too nice to it. It's a debut so I'm sure he can improve, but frankly until Khamari can show me something with a little more potential I'll be sure to ignore him for the time being.