It's unclear who's to blame, but somehow we've ended up with a new template for comfort music—a little bit of soft rock, some smooth R&B, and a measured dose of bleepy-bloop synthesizers, jazz syncopation, or acoustic guitar. The results of this formula are, more often than not, broadly appealing; at the least, it makes good background music for parties or cocktail bars.
There's a host of new acts that fit this format, but only one comes with a cartoon world full of characters such as the Grateful Bat (that is, a sardonic-looking hippie bat). Self-described as a “music and art project”, Young & Sick is the musical project of Nick Van Hofwegen, a Dutch artist who's designed album covers for Foster the People, Maroon 5, and Robin Thicke. As a visual artist, Van Hofwegen's style is whimsical and fun; musically, he's headed in a similarly upbeat direction.
Expanding on the few ethereal tracks he released semi-anonymously online over the past few years*, Young & Sick* is a remarkably polished debut, with each song boasting careful, painstaking arrangements and adept uses of space. It's charming, undeniable music that bops its way out onto the dancefloor with relaxed charm, and it shimmers with the seductive murmur of a lounge staple. It fits a specific vibe, and that's about the extent of what Young & Sick has to offer.
Album opener "Mangrove" is particularly vacuous—“When life is smiling at me/ Why do I frown?”—and there's not much else lyrically that goes beyond vague relationship talk or idle, sweet nothings. Regardless, this approach occasionally yields pleasant results. “Counting Raindrops” is a smoldering, romantic number over a taut syncopated that represents the album's strongest moment, even if lyrics like “When the sun goes under/ No one makes me feel like you do” lacks a certain soul-baring expressiveness. Musically, Young & Sick exists on a similar plane: everything sounds perfectly in place, and “Nowhere” and “Glass” bristle with a restrained energy and provide justification for indie rock's ongoing rejection of the electric guitars and drum kits in favor of synthesizers and drum machines.
It might seem unfair to discuss Young & Sick by rattling off other music that its songs sound like—Junior Boys' So This Is Goodbye, Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right", of Montreal's funkier moments—but it does seem like the project's aim is little more than trying on familiar sounds. There is some tension—“I can't seem to shake the feeling/ The sky is falling and I'm alone,” Van Hofwegen sings on "Twentysomething"—but it's quickly swept under the rug by cheery instrumentation, driving home the album's overall message: whatever youthful afflictions may be out there, music is a reliable balm.
