The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Don’t You is a do you

(Via Twitter @wet)
(Via Twitter @wet)

Don’t You is easy to listen to beyond anything else. The album bubbles with sonically pleasing beats that ground its songs even as vocalist Kelly Zutrau’s voice soars with otherworldly quality.

Don’t You, the début album from electric-pop trio Wet, made up of Zutrau and instrumentalists Joe Valle and Marty Sulkow, will be released Friday.

The group has produced a set of 11 songs, all blending together well with easygoing rhythms and the consistent narrative of struggling relationships. A few of the songs — such as “All the Ways” — flirt with a faster pace but never push themselves too far or become jarring.

The editing from song to song is well-balanced and services both the electric and R&B qualities, never allowing one to drown out the other. When the editing flattens, it is only for micro-moments in which an echo might be a bit much and overpower a new, yet-unheard part of the song, but this is rare.

A more noticeable letdown is some of the songs’ damp lyrics. Most have a creative energy behind them, but for the first half of the album especially, many verses that spark and pop are doused by a cliché “you are all I ever need” or an “I don’t want to give up what we have.”

In spite of this, it still seems whenever a line that sounds perhaps too familiar makes an appearance, it’s delivered with such sincerity and framed with such conviction that the listener buys in. Otherwise, the songs will occasionally take the more well-used lines and focus on a different section than expected, taking the song in different directions. This was especially noticeable in “Small and Silver.”

Wet has crafted songs that could have easily fallen flat if handled by other artists. But the vocal grace Zutrau brings to the pieces, the more-than-competent editing and the group’s effortless control over its sound makes Don’t You a powerful compilation. Wet knows what it wants to evoke in its listeners, and the members have carefully bottled each song with exactly the amount of tragedy or triumph intended.

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