Aaron Frazer – Introducing…

The story of how the solo debut album of Durand Jones & The Indications’ drummer Aaron Frazer came about is curious, almost as if it were instant chemistry. According to Frazer in an interview with NPR, producer Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys had sent him a call in the middle of dinner, asking if they could make an album together. Frazer quickly accepted and this album, Introducing…, Aaron’s solo debut, was written in just four days, although, according to him, it was a fruitful session. Indeed, the result of this clash between the two Ohio producers and the Baltimore drummer was something interesting, but it still seems to be very raw, superficial, and unfinished.

The main characteristic of the album is its style and sound. Introducing… counts as influences mainly from rock and blues, in addition to hints of modern r&b. What makes this something really striking is the fact that this very interesting mixture seems something very faded nowadays. It is difficult to look at the Frazer’s face on the album cover, for example, and think that this album would have such a characteristic sound. Undoubtedly, perhaps, when you look at Aaron’s on the album art, with him trying to make a cool pose in front of a pink background, you automatically associate it with a pop from the 2000s. And indeed, this surprise is great, however, even with this very different sound and with a very well-structured production, the album still sounds limited and unfinished, looking like an ephemeral desire that has been extended by more than it should have.

The lowest point of Introducing… are the lyrics that rarely show anything interesting or go beyond tiring rhythmic repetitions. As already said, the album was written in just four days and this becomes clear when you look deeper into the lyrics of the songs and realize that the vast majority of them follow a lazy pattern. Most of them are a set of short, tight sentences that are spoken slowly to make them look bigger. In addition, choruses and bridges tend to repeat much more than they should, making the songs seem much longer than they really are. Take as an example “Bad News,” which, despite having an instrument a little more polished than the rest of the album, still ends up sounding tiring due to the poor and repetitive lyrics. No doubt that the lyrics deserved more time.  

However, as already mentioned, the production of the album is something that pays off. Despite some moments where the songs seem very equal, without any nuances in the instrumentation, and even sound a little tiring, most of them have a very detailed sound production that really paid attention to the details. “Girl on the Phone,” is one of the best on the album because, in addition to being very catchy, it has transitions between the sound phases that are very well done, structured, and thought out. In the beginning, the track features thick pianos and church vocals that build something almost epic. Gently, it dissolves into something more pop and r&b. Or, look at “Can’t Leave You Alone” which sounds like a kind of timeless blues, pop track. However, it is not always that only the production can save the songs.

Another striking point of Introducing… is Frazer’s vocals. Undoubtedly, he presents interesting vocals, with his high voice, almost a perennial falsetto during the 40 minutes of duration. However, unfortunately, Aaron doesn’t go much further than that, showing the same performance all the time, which ended up damaging some songs, like “Done Lying'” and “Love Is,” which seem to have no evolution, always hovering under the same thing all the time.

Finally, despite the negative points of the album, Introducing… is still a lot of fun and has some catchy moments. In addition to “Girl on the Phone” which is probably the best, songs like “Love Girl” and “Over You” are very fun and memorable, even though they carry some weak moments in some elements. Even “Ride with Me,” which looks like something Ricky Martin would do in the 2000s, turns out to be relatively entertaining. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is not as good as these tracks, ending up being victims of tiresome and lazy lyrics and limited vocals.