Review by Shannon Shumaker
For his debut solo release, Tyler Carter definitely delivers on Leave Your Love. The EP, which is six songs in length, does have its high and low points, but thankfully, the highs do outweigh the lows. Above everything, Leave Your Love proves Tyler Carter’s versatility as an artist.
While “Sophisticated” isn’t necessarily the strongest opening track, it does have its own strong points. The production of this track (and the entire EP) is huge, and while I thought that Carter’s vocals might not be able to live up to the huge sound, I was definitely proven wrong when the chorus kicked in. The vocal work throughout the verses doesn’t quite live up to the big chorus, however, and by the time “Sophisticated” fades out, I’m interested to see where the rest of the album will go.
“Leave Your Love” follows “Sophisticated,” and immediately, I wish that I would have listened to this song first. While Carter’s vocals and lyrics leave much to be desired on the first track, he absolutely slays it on “Leave Your Love.” Again, the production is big on this song, but it has a more low-key feel to it, leaving Carter to keep you hooked with his gorgeous (and almost sensual) vocal runs. By the time that “Leave Your Love” transitions into “Georgia,” I’m reminded why I was so excited for this release in the first place – Carter’s vocal work on both of these tracks is very strong, and by the time the big chorus comes in on “Georgia,” it’s hard to believe that he also fronts a band like Issues (not that that’s a bad thing). Carter’s voice has a way of sounding incredible no matter the genre, and “Georgia” is no exception – his vocal range on this track is absolutely incredible. “Georgia” is as heartbreaking as it is beautiful, making it easily one of the strongest tracks on the album because of Carter’s great vocals work, the club-ready sounding chorus and lyrical content.
“So Slow” is just that – a total slow jam. It’s easy to fall in love with Carter’s vocals on this track as well, though I wasn’t necessarily a fan of the (almost cheesy) spoken part in the beginning of the track. “Tears On The Runway” threatens to sound almost too similar to the rest of the material on Leave Your Love, but Nylo’s guest vocals prove to actually be one of the best parts on the album. Her voice meshes flawlessly with Carter’s, making the chorus on “Tears On The Runway” on of the strongest, most heartfelt parts on the album.
There are a few moments throughout Leave Your Love where the sound is a little redundant, and I would have enjoyed a couple of upbeat tracks in the EP to shake things up a bit, but that (and some of the less than stellar lyricism aside) Leave Your Love is a great solo debut for Tyler Carter. One of the strongest aspects about this album is how different it sounds to any other project he has been part of. Carter doesn’t fall into safe places of singing or songwriting that would be evident from anything else he’s done, which makes this a must-listen for any fans of his previous work. Leave Your Love will definitely be something new and refreshing, and definitely more laid back than any of his other projects. Above everything, Tyler Carter set out to create a great solo R&B record, and that’s definitely what Leave Your Love is.
Rating: 3/5
Listen to “Leave Your Love”