Free Spirit - Khalid: Review
Khalid
is a rising R&B singer who hit it off with some successful singles in 2017 and dropped a popular debut album later that same year with American Teen. After capitalizing on his success with numerous high profile features and collaborations Khalid dropped the much maligned Suncity EP late in 2018 and followed it up with a few singles before the release of Free Spirit.
Review By Lavender:
As embarrassing as it may seem today, there was actually a point in time when I told people to look out for Khalid to put together something good. This was on account of his excellent debut single Location a song that landed on my singles of the year list in 2017 and that I still enjoy quite a bit. Unfortunately not only has Khalid not released another song as good as Location across his discography so far, he hasn't even come close. When his debut album American Teen arrived it had all the signs of a young artist thrust into the spotlight. Filled with cliched lyrics and focus grouped instrumentals Khalid made an R&B album for the most casual fan and a very sleepy project that I mostly let pass by me, hoping he would improve as time went on. Unfortunately last year when he released Suncity my expectations were let down in a huge way. One of the most difficult projects I had to listen to all year Khalid lifelessly stumbles through generic and trendy sounds like he isn't even trying and it made for one of the most disappointing musical moments I had last year. After a few singles released and my first few sit downs with this project it was very, very clear to me that quantity over quality isn't just a goal of Khalid's, it's a way of life.
In the interest of not making this review as boring as the album, I've chosen to generalize and simplify a lot. At 17 tracks and nearly an hour long I could spend paragraph after paragraph picking apart everything that irks me about this project but it would get so repetitive that it just wouldn't be helping anyone. Intro is a song with a pretty solid instrumental that reminds me of something we would have heard on The 1975's album last year, but it does absolutely nothing with this gift as the songwriting has no structure and an incredibly underwhelming vocal performance. For more examples of decent instrumentals wasted by lifeless performances or awful songwriting see the painfully boring Right Back, the horrible chorus of Don't Pretend or the John Mayer featuring Outta My Head.
Sometimes it's the other way around, Khalid cobbles together a decent vocal performance and there is some resemblance of songwriting, but that doesn't mean we are home free. Songs like My Bad have the generic and half assed instrumental palette of afternoon YouTube covers that suck all of the life out of many of the tunes on this album. Free Spirit falls into this category and is one of the tracks that I'm amazed Khalid was even allowed to release on a major label given just how little there is to it. Add both Bluffin and Saturday Nights to this section as well.
Sometimes on this album there are tracks so bad that nothing is working, where lifeless and formless performances meet cobbled together, generic and wandering instrumentation to create some truly tough listens. Bad Luck has an awful non-chorus to match it's absolutely forgettable verses for one of the most senseless R&B tracks you'll ever hear. Better which was somehow a big hit off of the Suncity EP is a two-bit Chris Brown rip off with far less style to go around. Twenty One is another contender for worst song on the project as nothing quite makes me wish I had never heard Free Spirit then listening to Khalid moan over a barely played instrumental for a tune that isn't even remotely catchy, engaging, or unique. Heaven is yet another tune that is so formless and incomplete that it blows my mind a real record label would put their name behind it.
Despite all this there are four songs that either came out pretty good, or the good elements they have outweighed the bad. Talk has grown on me since I first heard it as a single and the instrumental is one of the best on here as the fluttering synthesizer blips add some life to an otherwise horribly drab instrumental palette across this record. Paradise is a pretty catchy tune that meets a half decent instrumental with a half decent vocal to create a song that is just barely worth hanging on to. Hundred is one of the only moments where the mixing does a good job as Khalid is louder than at any point on the project and for good reason as it may be the best performance here, unfortunately there are some excellent opening guitars that get lost in the mix once the song picks up. And finally Self is one of the only songs here that resonated with me emotionally, given that most of the lyrics are generic cliches I liked this tune a lot for standing out and the song itself isn't half bad either.
Khalid is quickly becoming one of the biggest artists on earth but at points it's very hard to see why. Songs like Better blow my mind as to how they have become popular being so empty and nondescript but hopefully it stops soon and Khalid will have no choice but to pay more attention to his work, or fade out of the realm of popular music. Part of me still believes in the talent and ability of Khalid and his personality is clearly a great one that is well equipped for the pop music landscape, but the curating of what he releases needs to be far, far better than what we've seen so far. 2.5/10
For more R&B check out my review of Solange's When I get Home here.
