Spin & Score

Album Thoughts

Wow! I stumbled upon Elmiene towards the end of 2024 after he dropped his album ‘Anyway I Can’. I remember hearing him back then and feeling like he had something truly special—a real old-school R&B soul with a fresh English twist.

From the very first note, his voice cuts through like a knife, his tone is just incredible! He has such a wide range, and honestly, I can only dream of having that. But what really shines is the tone of his voice; it hooks you right in and won’t let you go!

The production on this album is something else, way more than you could ever ask for in a R&B album. The bassline is heavy and full of life, with a smooth guitar riff that ties everything together.

‘Cry Against The Wind’ is such an experimental piece and really sets the mood for the whole album. It feels like two songs mashed together into one. The first part flows so smoothly and almost dreamlike, then the kick drum hits like someone knocking at your door, saying, ‘Hey, time to wake up—things are getting real.’ Every time I listen to this track, I can’t help but feel like he was heavily influenced by people, like D’Angelo, who were so good at mixing genres that shouldn’t go together, but it just feels so right. Or, more recently, ‘Justin Timberlake, 20/20 Experience’, where he and his team of producers had a blast with tempos and grooves, just chopping and changing the song to keep the listener on their toes and not comfortable.

I could go on about all the songs because they’re all so smooth, melodic and just heartwarming. Like ‘Saviour’, when he hits that chorus, the contrast of his falsetto quietly grooving in the background with harmonies and a thick bass line rolling through is just perfect. Or ‘Reclusive’, one of his singles, that chorus run is out of this world! You’ll know it when you hear it—how he came up with that, I’ll never understand!

I really appreciated that even in his slower songs, where he could have shown off his range, the control of his vocals in songs like ‘Time Doesn’t Heal’ just shows me a world-class standard of him.

With all the focus on making a clean, balanced production, his lyrics are just as top-notch! The way he describes his songs and the details that bring them to life is truly special! This is especially evident in his song ‘Light By The Window’, featuring one of the sexiest bridges I’ve ever heard. The melody that Raphael Saadiq sings while delivering such heavy lyrics, like ‘Detrimental to my vision / Without my glasses and you’re far away with no precision / I doubt that if i leave this room, it will be any different’, is outstanding and made me want to dance the first time I heard it.

Before I wrap up, I want to talk about the song that has been stuck in my head since I heard it, ‘Lie With Me’.

From the moment that song starts with that guitar and bass combo that sits so nicely together, then the drum beat that we’ve all heard yet in this song feels so fresh, the crisp high hat on every 8th beat at first makes you think, ‘Hayden really is this the best song’. Then out of nowhere, he reaches the chorus, that bass picks up and starts chugging like a train down the railroad, where you can really hear it separate itself and be like, ‘I’m here’. Lyrics so simple yet packed with a punch, a falsetto that smacks you in the face! I think of something so simple and what most people would consider undercooked just showing how it’s done and it doesn’t need to be fancy to be shining. I guarantee you that after one listen, that chorus will be stuck in your head like an earworm!

Even though I’ve just raved about how amazing this album is, I reckon there was one song that didn’t quite click with me—‘Don’t Say Maybe’. It felt a bit too hip-hop-heavy for my taste. It just seemed like a strange middle part of the album as the next song is super sweet as jazzy. He said he wrote it in New York, and I get that—it just felt really chaotic like I imagine New York would be.

I’m so excited to see where Elmiene goes, this man has a bright future if he keeps doing albums like this! Sleek and sexy is the way I would describe this album.

Track List

1. Moment
2. Cry Against The Wind
3. Saviour
4. Reclusive
5. Time Doesn’t Heal
6. Honour
7. Don’t Say Maybe
8. Special
9. Lie With Me
10. Light By The Window (feat. Raphael Saadiq)
11. Lonely People
12. Told You I’ll Make It