It’s kind of hard to believe that Christopher Drew is only 18 years old.
He’s toured the country, put out an array of EP’s and been featured on MTV all before he could legally vote.
Never Shout Never, the musical vehicle/alias of Drew and company, has been causing quite the commotion in the music industry for some time now.
The teenage songwriter has gathered a cult following of fans gawking at every song, picture or blog created by him.
After drawing attention from many major record labels and creating a small bidding war amongst them, Warner Bros. victoriously signed Never Shout Never to their label.
Drew has almost become the poster child of emo music in the last couple of years.
What Is Love?, the debut album from Never Shout Never, is a polarizing first album.
All of his releases prior to What Is Love? have covered basically one subject and one subject only: the longing for love.
To say that What Is Love? doesn’t have the typical “love and heartbreak” theme to it would be a fabrication, but at the same time it does show Never Shout Never venturing into uncharted territory.
Confronting religion and dealing with drugs are repeating themes on the album, but heartache and girlfriends float around as well.
“Sunday morning, wake up early,” sings Drew, “skip church service to find my Jesus.
I know it sounds so sacrilegious, but I just don’t belong in a place like that. I love the cause, but not the act.”
But don’t be fooled so quickly. Although What Is Love? shows glimpses of maturity and growth, Drew still features the old whiney voice and mushy lyrics that has kept his audience’s demographic under the age of 18 for so long.
“‘Cause I’m overly attracted,” Drew confesses, “and terribly convinced that she could be my princess and I could be her prince.”
The song is an eclectic mix of lyrics that the whole album displays.
Although What is Love? finds some memorable tracks in California and The Past, it falls short almost everywhere else.
What is most surprising is that the album features only eight tracks and clocks in around 20 minutes.
While there are other editions featuring various bonus tracks, the basic album seems to be more of an EP than a full album.
While Christopher Drew has made long strides in music since his band’s conception, he still seems to have trouble making songs that don’t come off as simple love songs.
What Is Love? is a step in the right direction for Never Shout Never, but they still seem to have a long way to go.