He Is We, the duo of
Rachel Taylor and Trevor Kelly, set the bar pretty high on their debut album,
My Forever. Full of simple pop music replete with sweet melody after sweet melody, it's all the immediate appeal you could want in a pop record without the lingering sugar hangover.
Taylor's vocals are strong and sure against the uncluttered backdrop, and the album goes down smooth and easy with lyrics that stay near the surface. Every song on
My Forever could basically be lifted as a single, from the summery, handclap-laden "Everything You Do" to the quiet romance of "All About Us" (a duet with
Underoath's
Aaron Gillespie) to one of the album's most obviously ready-for-a-soundtrack hit, "Happily Ever After." There's a pop sheen that glosses over the whole album, but the music retains enough indie sensibility throughout to appeal to an audience wider than just the emo-pop crowd.
My Forever is primed for constant rotation, and it shouldn't be long before
He Is We are storming up the mainstream pop charts. ~ Corey Apar