Apolonio
If Frank Ocean is a superstar, Omar Apollo is a space rock. While they are often compared, and their sounds aren't exactly the same, the first three tracks of "Apolonio" reveal obvious vocal imitation of Frank Ocean. It's fine to wear your influences on your sleeves, but if those sleeves are wrinkled because they just came out of the dryer, it's not good. Metaphors aside, "Apolonio" is a bad project. It's all over the place, the mixing is iffy, and the songs are too short to get attached to. Apollo even messed up a Kali Uchis feature by reducing her to interlude-level status, which is just wrong. The album lacks heart and skill, fails to provoke with its intangible moods and scratchy vocals, creates atmospheres too narrowly, and the slower songs are insipid and uninspired. The songs are never catchy and not well composed. It's hard to get through, obviously ripped off, unimaginative, and features the most basic ideas and execution. The lyrics in “I’m Amazing” try hard to be heartfelt for the energetic beat, but the melody is super repetitive and the instrumental has boring pauses. The background guitar is bland too. “Kamikaze” has overt Frank Ocean worship, with the instrumental feeling less loose but not catchy enough. “Want U Around” is way too slow, the harmonies become mind-numbing, and the feature doesn’t break anything up. The guitar and drums are super basic. “Stayback” tries to be neo-soul but is all over the place, sounding random but giving more to listen to. “Hey Boy” is short-lived, so the feature seems pointless, and the vocals are underwhelming, failing to create an immersive atmosphere. The vocals and guitar in “Dos Uno Nueve (219)” don't balance each other, and the vocalizing is terrible. “Useless” tries to be cute but is annoying with not-so-frontal vocals, poorly used rhythms, and a basic melody that comes together plain and sad. The vocals in “Bi Fren” are monotonous, the melody is unpleasant, and the instrumental is painfully underdone. The chords in “The Two of Us” aren’t interesting, the vocals aren’t driving, and the guitar solo doesn’t match the tone at all. Nothing truly practical is present, with strange structures and awkward vocal performances. It's not just bland; it's lower than that, with no vibes. The production is questionable, with mismatched songs like "I'm Amazing," "Stayback," and "Dos Uno Nueve (219)" on a short 25-minute project. The only redeemable song is "Kamikaze," which benefits from being fleshed out and lengthy, with Apollo's vocals pairing nicely with the washed-out instrumental. The standalone single "Imagine U" would have surpassed everything on "Apolonio," but it wouldn't have fit the album's sound, which wasn't cohesive anyway, making its exclusion irritating. Idk but this album just sucks.
OMAR APOLLO - APOLONIO
RATING - 4.3/10
FAVORITE TRACK - Kamikaze
GENRE - Alt, Indie, Rnb, Pop