Save Your Tears

★★★★ 

This track intrigued me pretty much from the moment it began. It’s strongest suite is it’s vocal performance and lyrical ingenuity which form a great one-two punch of expression. The Pop-inspired yet retro instrumental give the production a heightened sense of enjoyment and urgency. The melody is beautiful interlaced with Abel’s synth-heavy trippy vocals. An all-round great song, which had a little more potential but still delivers on everything promised

Repeat After Me (Interlude)

★★★

Does it’s job as an interlude pretty effectively, offering little more. It’s not something special or anything to write home about although the production is quite nice.

After Hours

★★★½ 

The titular song on the album is in its core one of the best. But it falls apart when zooming out to see all the filler instrumentals and unnecessary extensions that detract from the essence of the song and leave the listener bored at times during the song. It’s still a good listen and won’t disappoint but definitely could be made much better by just cutting out the fluff and maintaining the important vocal performance from Abel.

Until I Bleed Out

★★★★ 

Tonally and lyrically, a strong conclusion to the album. It matches the tone and the vibe perfectly as it ends on a melancholy and contemplative note. It’s a solid song, with another strong vocal performance with nice production. It captures the essence of the album perfectly one last time.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

After Hours is a pretty good album overall. It’s not Abel’s best work by any means but it’s definitely not his worst. The high points are really high and the low points are not that low. There’s nothing terrible in the album and it’s quite listenable. I would say it’s more enjoyable as background music rather than as a primary activity. The gaping holes only become visible upon closer inspection. There’s a lot of fluff and filler throughout the album which I’m sure will help it’s sales but doesn’t resonate with me on an artistic scale. A lot of the ‘Pop’ inspired songs are just not that great and do little to improve the message or the depth of topics covered in the album. But when it shines, it shines like a diamond. Some songs on this album will turn out to be all time classics.

My Top Five

1. Snowchild
2. Heartless
3. Hardest to Love
4. Save Your Tears
5. Blinding Lights

OVERALL RATING – 74%