More Is More
Pop, 2020

It’s interesting that even after going down the indie route, Adam Lambert’s music still sounds a lot like his previous albums. I’d have thought he would switch things up and go all out with bringing on the new wave revival party, but he chooses instead to be a little on the safe and sedate side.

As a result, I don’t find anything in Velvet that stands out in any way, while in his previous albums at least one or two songs would turn out to be a brain tapeworm that won’t be dislodged no matter what. A big reason for this is that the songs here feel like mere variations of his previous songs. Worse, there is a similar kind of vibe in the songs here that make them kind of blur together after a while.

Sure, I like Roses and Overglow, but these are also rather generic tracks that on a normal day won’t make me sit up and pay notice. The best track here is New Eyes, I feel, as it combines funk and pop in a slow, sensual way that would make the late Prince proud. If there had been more of that here, this album would have been a far more lively party.

He does up the raunch factor here, though, cussing a bit and singing more overtly about the sexy stuff. There’s no mistaking what Comin In Hot is about, for example. Still, it can be hard to pay attention to what the songs are about when they tend to fade into the background after a while.

Velvet is more like something to play in the background – music to set the mood – while one is getting ready to do more interesting stuff, like getting busy or getting housework done. Treating it as anything more may just lead one down the trail to disappointment.