Brandon Hines

★ 7.6

album

Love Music...Falling in, Falling Out

“*sighs* If it wasn't for me snooping around my ex's YouTube playlist (back in 2016, I might add), I wouldn't have discovered Brandon Hines' music, though it was standalone songs he released around that time. (In hindsight, what I did is pathetic as hell, but we carry on.) Re-listening to this in the big 2025 and I have so many thoughts about this album, "Love Music... Falling In, Falling Out". I forgot how cringe some of this material on here is, especially the opening tracks of the album. Uptempo R&B club tracks might not be Brandon's strong suit, or at least not his strong suit on here, because he sounds like he's trying too hard to make the song work, with the end results being average at best. "Stop & Go" is a glaringly notorious offender that fits the description mentioned above. Plus, it doesn't help that the production is a clear product of its time and era: mid-2000's MySpace music. But both the midtempo tracks and slower ballads are Brandon's strong suit, as he's more able to show off his vocals on production he's more comfortable in. Like I said above, the production on here is a direct reflection of 2005/2006, but tracks like "Fantasies" and "When It Rains" are among some of the best material on here. The peaks of "Love Music" also display the simplistic yet effective songwriting and lyricism on here, though it may come off as a bit corny at times. (At its best, the lyrics kind of came off as corny when I first came across this and just aged like milk as time went on at its worst, but I digress.) Slightly glaring inconsistencies aside, I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a sense of nostalgia listening to this. At its worst, Brandon Hines' "Love Music..." is a clear product of its time. But at its best, though? Some of the most underground R&B songs during the MySpace era still holds up well enough. *sighs* Crazy how life works when it comes to music discovery.”

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