It’s been over two years since the release of Ferras’s last release, an eponymous five-track EP brimming with romantic yearning — and the inevitable heartbreak and disappointment that results from it. The single, “Champagne,” was an assertive departure from Ferras’s piano-driven debut, “Hollywood’s Not America”. While “America’s” radio-friendly sound worked well for its use as American Idol’s departure song, “Champagne” reeked of Dom Perignon and coke-fueled urgency. 2014 brought with it a fiery new Ferras flaunting a serious mohawk —and a sound to match.
Two years later, Ferras continues the trend with “Closer,” a mid tempo pop track reminiscent of the Ferras sessions. Subtle marimbas and piano stabs shuffle behind lyrics resounding with the same urgency and desperation that made “Champagne” so exceptional. While Ferras’s passionate delivery remains in tip-top form, the backing arrangement lags behind his aroused vocals. The mismatch between Ferras’s zeal and his underwhelming instrumental recalls the jounce of “No Good in Goodnight,” a slice of filler that lacks the vulnerability of tracks like “Speak In Tongues” or the gorgeous Aliens & Rainbows take of “Take My Lips.”
Still, “Closer” teems with a come-hither appeal that only Ferras can pull off . Although the drastic highs and sweeping lows of songs like “Champagne” and “My Beautiful Life” may be lacking from Ferras’s latest release, “Closer” still carries with it the promise of another solid LP. In the meantime, we’ll have to wait with fingers crossed, hoping to hear Ferras at his best—that is, when he’s hot and bothered.
