#MixtapeMonday - Elli Ingram: Sober

Lyrics & Delivery: 3.8/5.0

Production: 4.1/5.0

Overall Score: 3.9/5.0

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Review by MrReesh - Everyday puffin' pon di ganja - @MrReesh

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TASTE DAT RAINBOW

Drugs! You gotta love em. They're little bitesized pieces of concentrated joy and relaxation, and now most of them come in colours! Like skittles!

Drugs and it's grey area half sister alcohol have been responsible (or at least inspired) some great pieces of music (I'm not endorsing drugs) including the surprisingly good Sober EP by 19 year old Elli Ingram.

Some of you may know her soulful soully vocal from her Poetic Justice cover, which I hated due to my near absolute hatred for covers (but not interpolations, which are different) though I could most definitely appreciate the voice. Here she maintains this smooth vocal alongside lyrics which are for the most part good, and delivery which is for the most part, good. I especially liked her all encompassing vocal in High Love, a little tune which touches on how her drug like love can take (or make) you high unlike any other. Her voice supports the song well and the production is rapid enough to carry it forward without any feeling of monotony.

The EPs titular track Sober is another banger, mashed with a delicious beat and smooth as gravy chorus to complete a glorious and adequately representative metaphor. She keeps things simple here like in the majority of the EP, choosing to stay safe and do things well rather than taking any obvious risks. The result is, much like bangers and mash, a great dish, even if a little boring at times.

This feeling of a lack of daring or risk taking is perhaps most clear on Elliot, which is essentially the EPs first and only fast forward point for me. Here her voice feels a touch contrived, and repetitive delivery as well as an alriiiiight chorus ultimately leaves it feeling pleasant, but dull.

You were tricked

The remainder of the EP makes up for Elliot's misgivings however. Mad Love, a jazz infused bouncy melody brings back some of the charm that makes the EP such a pleasure to hear, even if the lyrics can induce a bit of a “lol wut?” response. And Fun? Fun is just the bee's knees. It's sweet and is an excellent track to end the EP on (still excluding the PJ cover, as that is kind of a bonus track) as it focuses on awakening to sobriety and reminiscing on the greatness of the night before in a way that makes you reminisce on your own nights of olde. Ah how foolish it was for me to use wine as a chaser for vodka that night, good night though, a very good night.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is the Sober EP is ironically, good while sober. While I can't vouch for it's quality while drunk, judging from the fact it's easy to find Rebecca Black's Friday good while drunk this must be freaking amazing on “a wave”. Though it has it's shaky parts Sober is a solid EP, and a great start for the young Island Records signee. Though it's not blow-your-brain-out-your-ears amazing it does do certain things really well, and is worth a listen because of that. I rate this one 3.9 out of 5 ganjas.

My Top 3:
1) High Love
2) Fun
3) Sober

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NOTE: As I've mentioned, I have a default position AGAINST covers, so in my rating of the Sober EP I did not consider the PJ cover. Add or subtract points as you will, I won't sue you.

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Photo credits:
Skittles image "ياله يا شباب و يا بنات واحد واحد و بالدور الكل بياخذ نصيبه !" by HISHAM BINSUWAIF