Rachel Platten’s new album, Be Here, is a mixture of poppy tracks and a couple of other tunes that flirt with genre defying switch ups. The first track off the album is one that fits in well with the current female singer/songwriter trend that’s been going on for the past few decades. Regina Spektor comes to mind as well as older fem artists such as Lisa Loeb and Natalie Merchant. Right out of the gate the album offers you a sense of familiarity to guide you through the evolution of the albums sound.

Don’t Care What Time It Is would be the first song on the album that steps away from the first two tracks on the album that stay relatively close to that familiar singer/songwriter feel I mentioned earlier. On this track Platten flirts with hip hop and R&B displaying her range and ability to switch up her style with ease. This track is paired with another honorable album mention in You Don’t Have To Go. Otherwise Platten’s album is mostly dedicated to contemporary singer/songwriter/commercial pop. That’s not a bad thing but the album has a lot of moments where you simply feel like you’ve been there before. This being Platten’s second album, according to most sources on-line where I’ve looked up her releases, no doubt there is room for her to take her often thoughtful lyrics and great voice and add them to a sound less inspired and more home grown. Still, Be Here isn’t half bad and without a doubt will make fans of most listeners who linger along the genre she has made home. As always final judgment is yours. Enjoy.  

Stand Out Tracks: Remarks, Don’t Care What Time It Is, Take These Things Away