Thursday, September 1, 2011

Mat Kearney Young Love Album Review

"Hey Mama, hey hey Mama, don't want no drama, just a kiss before I leave..."

Now that I'm a Mama, music doesn't have the relevance in my life that it once did. There was a time when I knew the words to every hit song on the radio, now I'm lucky if I recognize the face of a current artist on a magazine cover at the check-out line. 

I was stoked to receive an advanced copy of Mat Kearney's new album, Young Love, to review. To have the chance to feel even a little bit hip and "in the know" in the music world. I hadn't heard of Mat Kearney prior to getting his CD in the mail. I thought this was his debut album, but after visiting his website, I learned it's his third. 

The album is quite diverse, each of the 10 tracks feeling like they'd be on a different album. Mat's voice is appealing, even somewhat soothing and it lends itself to somehow work for all the different genres you find on the album. The first track on the disc (and the first single) "Hey Mama" knocked it out of the park. It's catchy, the kind of song that gets you singing along and clapping your hands to the beat (the background beat in this song is clapping, but it actually works). My kids fell in love with "Hey Mama"! I had to play it 4 times in a row to appease them before I could continue listening to the rest of the album. :)


I was happy in the snappy, clappy, pop of "Hey Mama" and when I was finally able to move onto the second track, I found myself confused by white boy rap. As much as I try to like a white boy rapping, it just doesn't work for me. There's pop, alternative rock, dance, and yes...a little white boy rap...it's a unique album and definitely NOT boring. While the album was very different from what I expected it to be, I ended up falling in love with it in spite of myself. The more I've listened to it, the more I've liked it.

My favorite tracks? 1) Hey Mama, 6) Learning To Love Again, 8) She Got The Honey and 9) Young Dumb and In Love and 10) Rochester.

Mat will be at the TLA in Philly on 10/29...I would really love to see him live. :)

Check Mat Kearney out for yourself on his website and iTunes page and be sure to "like" him on Facebook.  


*In full disclosure, I received a free copy of this album as a member of the O2O Network in exchange for an honest review of it here on my blog.*








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