Album Review: The Child Of Lov - The Child Of Lov

A year ago The Child Of Lov was previously one of those seemingly in vogue anonymous musicians; existing only as a Tumblr account and a couple of YouTube clips. He's publically 'come out' as a normal mid-twenties Dutch gent by the name of Cole Williams, so his debut record now comes as a 'normal' release, but also burdened by its creator's trendy history.

Opener Call Me Up posits the album as another addition to the indie acceptable sphere of urban soul music, in with Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, but this is not a gambit that continues. The second track, and essential single, Heal grooves with a more danceable and overall happier tone than that scene can comprehend without multiple layers of irony. Not that irony isn't present; a cheesy, almost stylophone reminiscent tone pulses throughout the song, and how seriously are we supposed to treat a repeated refrain of “Baby you know I'm for real!” It's somewhat personable, somewhat abstract and a load of fun.

The track, an overall highlight, sums up what's great about this debut; the album is innovative, fun, full of soul and manages to sound modern despite channelling age old soul music tropes and sampling distinctly 'older' sounding music. Alas, the album rarely gets better. There are other highlights, minimal and scratchy loop driven Give Me is soulful, sexy and gorgeous, and the album rarely places a foot wrong. But for music that certainly leans on being soulful more often than not, there is surprisingly little conviction here. The Child Of Lov is a good artist, no doubt, but perhaps if on future releases he picks between irony and conviction as chief tonal crutch, he'll be a great one.