by Diluted Thought


Mike Posner, a Duke University Alumni, is releasing his debut album “31 Minutes to Takeoff” and thanks to the Myspace preview we can review the album before its release date (August 10th).

As a fan of the mixtapes “A Matter of Time” and “One Foot Out the Door”, I was disappointed in M.P’s new album.  Much of the production is decent with only a few songs having enjoyable instrumentals. Posner defiantly has the ability to write a great song but it seems the music behind his voice is forgettable. Lyrically however, this album is a treat. Many of the songs seem like personal accounts of Posner’s romantic life with topics ranging from a woman’s vanity and being unapproachable, to hindsight epiphany’s of committing infidelity with an ex, and of course my favorite, summer flings.

Even though many of the songs circle around the concepts of love / hate relationships I feel his best and most sincere lyrics are heard on “Delta 1406”. “Delta” sounds like a personal journal entry of a man regretting past actions but living with the decisions he’s made. The biggest surprise on this album was finding out that the popular 90′s group Boys II Men were featured on the song “Deja Vu”. This is pretty exciting considering how quiet Boyz II Men have been over the past few years. It was disappointing to find how underused they were in the actual track or perhaps I expected more from the trio that can still actually sing. At least half the album is a joy to listen to, whether the songs are upbeat and fun or mellow and sincere, but don’t expect to hear the same magic that can be heard on his previous releases (which can be downloaded here: Mike Posner Myspace. Radio singles “Cooler Than Me” and “Please Don’t Go” are singles for a reason: fun and upbeat music gets people’s attention.  It would have been nice if the rest of the album tried doing the same. Here’s hoping his sophomore attempt sees a variety in production and subject matter because as it stands he can only go up from here.

Songs Worth a Listen:
“Please Don’t Go”, “Cooler Than Me”, “Cheated”, “Gone in September” & “Delta 1406”