Trying to convince a teenager in the throes of passion that his emotions are not the pinnacle of human emotion is a fool's errand. On Gap Year!the debut full-length from Laila!, young love blooms and withers with overwhelming intensity. The New York singer-producer plants you straight into the whirlwind that is life before 18, tangling with mixed signals and dreaming of being asked to dance. All the while, her tunes sound like they're coming out of bedrooms lined with Brandy and Lauryn Hill posters, a compressed mix of honesty and wit.
As the album's title suggests, Laila—born Laila Smith, daughter of rapper Yasiin Bey—is a dedicated student of the game. Brandy's self-proclaimed student graduated from high school a year early and began carving her own path as a musician with agile GarageBand. old brandy and Aaliyah cuts. Her magnetic, carefree persona brought the first singles “Like That!” and “Not My Problem,” which Cash Cobain then made a viral posse cut of. The almost entirely self-produced Gap Year! is the coming-out party of Laila!, her own version of a self-titled debut.
The record plays as casually as an after-school hangout, full of titles and themes that might be rattled by the morning bell. On lo-fi acoustic opener “Talent Show,” the tactile sounds of amps being plugged in and mics being tuned seem to play over a scratchy cafeteria PA. Backed by a pounding bassline that wouldn't be out of place on an early 2000s 702 album, “If U Don't Know by Now” trembles waiting to be picked up by a crash (until then, it'll leave a note on the their locker). The understated production allows her voice to shine, harnessing a sense of intimacy without feeling cynically retreaded.
In “Want 2”, Laila! it shines over a stripped-down, lively drum that belongs spiritually to its back half Like Mike movie soundtrack. Her crowns carry an emotional conviction that makes you believe she means every word. “Were we in love? This is what I really want to know/Tell me, what will it take to let your feelings show?' sings on “RU Down?” letting her voice hold as she puts the screws to a particularly disappointing guy.
Gap Year! climaxes when Laila! focuses her vocal performance, acting as a conduit for high school waves of emotion. In weaker passages, the 17 tracks begin to blend together. The recurring thoughts about love and relationships, especially from an 18-year-old's perspective, can feel predictable. But there's plenty of artistic personality here, like the cheerful pocket Laila! he catches as he spits 'Sani (Free Way of Working)' and 'Not My Problem', or the falsetto that pierces through the opening bars of 'Could Be'. The topic may come with an expiration date, but Laila's endless stream of heartfelt statements! is worthy of the yearbook pages: “All the love in the world/It's there to find,” he sings in the bridge of “ Sink 2 Rise .” Maybe youthful idealism isn't so foolish after all.
from our partners at https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/laila-gap-year
