Omar Vox
Across the Sky
Omar Vox is back with a new album after 2016's Supernova in which his strengths as a radio-friendly songwriter are taken to the extreme; the intention to be overly appealing entirely shuts down any opening for risk, nuance and dynamics to seep through.
Omar Vox is a Tijuana singer-songwriter (currently living in Mexico City) who has been part of the music scene for quite some time now. His work has always been amicable, leaning towards an alternative pop-rock sound as shown on Supernova (2016), which showcased his ability to pen accessible and catchy tunes (I even have it in physical form). Now, after teasing for a better part of a year and half, his latest album is finally here. Was it worth the wait? Is it an honorable successor for Supernova’s timid energy?
As you might have guessed based on the lack of a score… not really.
Once again, as it has been the case with many of the albums I haven’t been a fan of, it’s not that the music is poorly executed or bad (and no, it’s not because it is not “experimental”, either), but it is in a desperate need of a personality. Any chance for substance is gone because the intention to be overly appealing entirely shuts down any opening for risk, nuance and dynamics to seep through. Judging by each track’s length and their very straightforward composition, it’s obvious that Omar wanted to deliver something that could be easily consumed without having to think too much about it.
Across the Sky is a fairly brief listen -seven tracks in less than 30 minutes is acceptable- but it loses momentum after the singles are done (which actually makes you wonder why they weren’t strategically placed throughout the album instead of being listed back to back at the beginning). This affects the pace after the third track, especially since the next three cuts are uneventful acoustic pieces that aimed for a heartfelt and wholesome aura, but instead come off as extremely mawkish. It is not my place to question nor confirm their sincerity, but that wouldn’t be enough to hold them together anyway.
Unlike the rest of the songs, closer “Café Con Sal” is the only one that feels complete. It has a good solitary intro and a nice transition into full band; it has highs and lows, and it even ends after some light pedal trickery that could be considered shoegazy or psychedelic if it weren’t for that need to remain too much on the safe side. To be fair, though, it does give a good sense of closure to an album that mostly felt like it had three thought-out songs, and four unfinished demos. However, don’t expect it to blow you away as it still pales in comparison to what other national alternative pop acts have to offer, but within the context of this album, “Cafe Con Sal” is an undeniable highlight.
Across The Sky’s scope is too narrow, as if Omar had a very specific demographic in mind since its inception, and it is not likely that the album will completely appeal to anyone outside of it. With a sound that heavily borrows from the tamer side of The Beatles and Gustavo Cerati, Across the Sky has a boomer sensibility: it doesn’t sound vintage, retro, or even ironic, it just sounds dated; however, it is clear that this is the record Omar wanted to make, and under that pretense, he successfully created a radio-friendly album destined to win the hearts of many -albeit casual- listeners.
