An emo album with an acoustic twist,
What Is Love? marks the debut of 18-year-old songwriter
Christofer Drew. Like
Adam Young -- the sole member of
Owl City --
Drew launched his one-man band by promoting the songs on MySpace, where his tales of angst and adolescent love found an appropriately teenaged audience. While
Owl City proved to be visibly -- perhaps excessively -- influenced by
the Postal Service, though,
Drew does a better job blurring the line between his influences and his own music, coming up with a sound that owes equally to
Jason Mraz,
the Honorary Title, and
the Early November. Producer
Butch Walker, no stranger to one-man bands himself, rounds out the mix by adding harmonies, orchestral instruments, and finger snaps, and the result is a breezy, commercial record that charted at number 24 during its first week of release. ~ Andrew Leahey