Joel Poe – Drownkid

Let’s get something out of the way.  Singer/songwriter upstart Joel Poe can play the piano – really well.  He started at a young age and impressed the socks off of everyone he knew.  International recognition followed, and the kid garnered a close cult following around the internet.  His steadily rising profile resulted in signing to Standby Records imprint Standby Storytellers, and the subsequent release of his proper album debut, Drownkid.  

But for the life of me, I just don’t get the hype.  

Joel Poe’s highly accented style of singing (he was raised in Madrid, Spain), combined with an overriding tendency to go off key when emotions run high (or just sing in a weird pitch and oddly emphasize words) makes for ten tracks of incredibly awkward, vocal driven piano ballads. Opener “I Wish For Something More” finds Poe wearing his heart on his sleeve with some of the most underdeveloped lyrics of any solo artist.  “Now you’re with him… he speaks perfect French and goes to the gym,” whines Poe in what sounds more like a conversation you’d hear in a high school cafeteria than on the stage of a rising star.  And it doesn’t get any better from there.  On “Let it Out” Poe sings, “everyday I wake up feeling like a stranger, wondering why I am chained to this broken world,” coming across like a first attempt at songwriting by a sad teenager shuttering their windows and retreating into the dark corner of their bedroom.  As the disc plays on, tracks like “You’re Dead, Go Away” and “Hold On” suffer from the same culmination of regrettable songwriting decisions.

If forced to pick a favourite, “Annabel” (and perhaps “Wonderland”) would be Drownkid’ closest thing to a standout.  Here, Poe digs a little deeper and climbs down from those overbearing high notes for a verse or two.  While less grating, one small alteration amidst the host of other unyielding flaws makes the change far from redeeming.

So in conclusion, Joel Poe is a talented pianist, laughable lyricist and pitchy, inconsistent vocalist.  Performing cover songs for an overly optimistic YouTube audience that uncritically regurgitates flattering comments like, “your voice is beautiful and so are you,” just doesn’t translate into a professionally produced album in today’s competitive singer/songwriter arena.  In other words, while Poe has heart, he just doesn’t have the total package to get the job done.