Release Date: April, 26 2011
Jamie Woon’s voice and the music under it are a concentrated dose of smooth melancholy. There’s no sweeping solos, hooked melodies or fun-time sing alongs to his debut, Mirrorwriting. It’s just Woon and a dusting of dub-step flavored ambiance. The result is a soulful collection of minimalistic pop songs that are enjoyable to the ear when they are not inducing sleep. Its success is owed to Woon’s subtle range and feeling, which matches the music’s airy, R&B tone well.
His best songs make good use of synth and production effects to create groovy earworms. The opening track, “Night Air” makes full use of production techniques to layer in ghostly echoes of his voice and long tones over a speedy bass beat. Lyrics carry the sensuality one expects from a smooth operator. While “Street” is much closer to the album’s normal formula, it is a good example where the mixes of electronic and pop sensibilities work. The music bed is speedy but moody, and Woon adds different effects to his voice to enhance its sound.
The final product perfectly captures feeling alone in a nightclub surrounded by people looking for a good time.
Woon’s decision to askew celebratory topics of past sexual escapades for the darker side of relationships can rub up against the music in the wrong way. Sound-wise “Spiral” is probably the closest song on Mirrorwriting to boilerplate R&B with its requisite finger snapping, sensual acoustic guitar lick, and sprinkling of smooth jazz. Lyrically, however, it parts from passionate and opts for a more lived-in feeling: “I don’t know if it’s over/The years have made us older/And I can’t imagine life without you/How I built my life around you/We’ve been so long together now, babe.” Unfortunately the words kill the song’s mood and highlight a major shortfall of the album. While Woon’s skills are apparent he has a tendency to play too much into his soulful side with limp ballads buttressed by stock R&B sounds and a coat of electric paint.
Mirrorwriting is a quality album but will most likely disappoint fans of multiple genres. It straddles a line between dub-step and R&B that previously didn’t exist. At its worst Woon has made derivative pop that’s too smooth for its own good with lyrics that are too mellow and downtrodden too really enjoy. At its best Woon’s minimalistic songs offer great ambiance and synth mixed with heartfelt lyrics fit for bedrooms. The overall product is somewhere between the two, but promising for a debut album. Woon is a talented guy for both his voice and deft song craft and will be fascinating to watch as he evolves his sound.
Jaime Woon – Mirrorwriting Tracklist:
- “Night Air”
- “Street”
- “Lady Luck”
- “Shoulda”
- “Middle”
- “Spirits”
- “Echoes”
- “Spiral”
- “TMRW”
- “Secondbreath”
- “Gravity”
- “Waterfront”
