Prior to 2013, few people had heard of soul singer Aloe Blacc, despite the fact that he had two fairly well-received studio albums under his belt.  However, all that changed when he was featured on Swedish EDM/house musician Avicii’s hit single “Wake Me Up!” from Avicii’s album True, released earlier this year.  Riding on his newfound popularity, Blacc released his third album, Lift Your Spirit, on Oct. 25, 2013.  Here, I’ll be reviewing the standard edition, rather than the U.S.-exclusive version.

Blacc begins his album with his own version of “Wake Me Up”.  It uses his vocals from Avicii’s song (these excellent lyrics discuss one’s journey through life, learning throughout the experience, and implying that life may even be a dream), but replaces the EDM/house instrumental for a beat featuring acoustic guitar and strings.  Make no mistake, this is not anywhere as upbeat or catchy as Avicii’s version.  It is far more mellow.  HOWEVER, the song is still powerful thanks to meaningful lyrics and solid work with this instrumental.  It’s good, but my issue here is that Blacc chose to simply recycle his lyrics from Avicii’s song entirely.  He didn’t add anything.  It’s a remix, in essence.  How one remixes an actual deejay’s original song mystifies me, but Blacc did it…somehow.  In short, it’s sort of different, but good, yet lazy.  I prefer the Avicii version, but that’s just me.

What follows is “The Man,” which gained popularity after being featured in commercials for Beats by Dre products.  This album highlight is essentially about standing up to obstacles and being a model for perseverance and excellence.  Some listeners may find it to be extraordinarily repetitive, and even annoying.  I, however, find it to be a solid track because of its message and uplifting tone.

“Soldier in the City,” is next.  This song sees Blacc singing from the perspective of an apparent criminal, discussing the difficulty of trying to survive and get by in the city.  An unapologetically funky piece, I found the instrumental to be a solid change of pace.  Ordinarily, I wouldn’t see it as fitting in this album very well.  Blacc went from talking about journeying through life and being a role model to being an apparent criminal…that’s quite a change of pace and it’s contradictory.  However, the point is to tell a story about how the narrator is trying to improve his life.  I feel like it works, and I actually really enjoyed it.  I think it’s better than the first two tracks, in all honesty.  It’s a highlight for sure.

Unfortunately for Blacc, the album starts to really lose its luster around this point.  It doesn’t become bad so much as it becomes cliched.  “Love is the Answer” sees him repetitively stating that love can solve everyone’s problems.  It epitomizes a cliche, especially as it encourages the listener to “come with him” and spread love everywhere, love everyone, and just hug everybody, basically.  It’s a positive message, but it’s just too ridiculously cliched and unoriginal.  The cliches continue on the next two songs, “Here Today” and “Wanna Be With You”, which discuss how our material possessions are only temporary as long as we live, and how badly Blacc wants to be with a woman.  Neither offer anything unique.  They are both sort of general songs that say what people already do about the subjects.  He literally took cliches and built songs off of them.

The title cut, “Lift Your Spirit,” is a song about staying positive, and being sure of who you can trust in life.  It’s about overcoming a bad situation or betrayal and coming away a bigger person.  I feel that it is VERY applicable to our lives, as people today don’t seem to forgive and move on.  The song encourages that.  It encourages being the better person, and that is refreshing.  It’s a highlight, for sure.

Of course, the cliches return immediately after, with Blacc trying to woo a woman with material goods (how original) in “Red Velvet Seat” and falling in love during a dance off in “Can You Do This.”  After hearing what Blacc is capable of in other places, it’s painful to see him stoop to these cliches once again.  He is better than this.  The songs are catchy though, which is the only reason I don’t dislike them.

“Ticking Bomb” is an attempt at social commentary about how the world is a bad place right now, but it is very repetitive, and also vague and generalized.  It doesn’t say what our problems are, or how to address them.  It just kind of says “we’re in trouble” a lot, without going anywhere, which sucks because this song had potential.

The final song, “Eyes of a Child” talk to an apparently hypocritical woman.  It’s a change of pace for the album, which would be refreshing if it didn’t completely negate the whole attitude of “being a better person” and “lifting your spirit” that runs rampant on the album, which is even titled for this mentality.  It’s good, but it doesn’t fit.

Ultimately, this album is good, but it’s too…safe.  It doesn’t take enough risks.  It’s a fairly generic, cliched album that is good, but it doesn’t stand out.  There are a few highlights, but not nearly enough to make this album great, or even really good.

I give this album a 6/10.  There are good moments here that try to stand out, but for the most part, the album is bland.  It doesn’t make an impression.