Jesse's past two efforts of alternative and guitar driven songs obviously weren't cutting it. So he has teamed up with R&B producers' Tricky Stewart & The Dream (Rihanna's "Umbrella", Mariah Carey's "Touch my body"), Sean Garrett (Beyoncé's "Check on it", Kelly Rowland's "Like this", Chris Brown's "Wall to wall"), J.R Rotem (Rihanna's "S.O.S") and The Clutch (Omarion's "Ice box", Britney Spears' "Radar"). As you could imagine his album is glossed in a hybrid of R&B and Pop. Whilst it does kinda work, there is definitely something odd about hearing the likes of Jesse doing such a sound.
The problem with Departure is that it's full of songs which are good, but would've been better in the hands of a more credible R&B artist. Jesse does sell the songs as well as he can, and he has a good voice which is made better by the tight vocal production and vocal arrangements. But it's still Jesse McCartney and this is difficult to look past. Some of the songs feel far too contrived, especially the Sean 'I haven't had a hit since Beyoncé's "Check on it" and almost killed Kelly Rowland, Chris Brown and Nicole Scherzinger's careers with the shitty lead singles I gave them' Garrett productions. It feels as though he's forcing a harder, more urbanised sound Jesse, and as a result they feel cookie cutter and not quite right. The same goes for Tricky Stewart and The Dream and their contribution "Leavin'". Whilst the song is decent, I cringe at hearing Jesse McCartney singing about flying on G5's and dropping lines such as ♪ Oooo, you got me sangin'! ♪ Hot song, wrong artist. This shit should've gone to Usher. Jesse even tries to emulate him at times. It's a decent song. But The Dream should've toned down some of the hood style lyrics as Jesse sounds like a fool singing them.
Fortunately the other producers manage to give Jesse a sound that works better for him. "My baby" is a hot throwback number with it's fusion of old skool Prince and Michael Jackson from the Off the wall era. The beat is funky and the hook is incredibly infectious. Easily one of J.R Rotem's strongest productions (which may not be saying much given the tripe that is his production discography). Twinkly mid-tempo R&B jam "Told you so" is another hot song. It treads the line perfectly between R&B and Pop, and ensures Jesse doesn't sound like he's out of his depth as he does on several of the albums' other cuts. The Clutch penned "Runnin'" runs into the ground the formula of a melancholic lament of a relationship on the rocks, over a background of shifting drums and techno stynhs that Usher's "Moving mountains" and Omarion's "Ice box" before it worked (amongst others). Still, it's a solid song and would make a great single - even if the likes of Usher would've completely shut it down had he gotten a hold of the song. But credit where it's due - Jesse does a great job and the song is slick and well handled. "Relapse" is another track which treads the line perfectly between R&B and Pop with it's stripped down 80's funked verses and loud synthed out chorus. The song has a similar bounce to it that Leona Lewis' "Misses glass" has, which is no doubt due to the Madd Scientist having produced them both. A hot song, which was stupidly placed at the end of the album. It would've been better off within the first 5 tracks.
Departure is actually a solid album. The problem that it will face is that those outside of Jesse's fan base may have issues connecting with it because it's Jesse McCartney. The songs are decent, the hooks are catchy, Jesse's vocals are pretty tight and the sound is consistent without sounding samey. But Jesse singing the R&B songs with a pop twist will irk those outside of his hardcore fan base as they'll more than likely dismiss him entirely. Especially seeing as R&B with a Pop edge seems to feel like a fad that everybody who was once a 100% pop artist is hopping on right now. But regardless, Jesse shows a great deal more musical and vocal growth than the likes of Chris Brown showed on his album Exclusive and took more risks with it too - which is something to be commended. Jesse will have to fight alot of odds to have this album really sell because it seems the music game isn't willing to accept another white dude hop on the R&B wagon other than that idiot Justin Timberlake. Plus he'll have to establish himself an entirely new fan base with this album, as it's not like his past albums garnered much of one.
All in all, a solid effort. If *NSync were to re-group, I imagine their album would sound something like this. I'm not sure if that's much of an endorsement or recommendation, but whatever.
Album highlights:
■ It's over
■ How do you sleep
■ My baby
■ Told you so
■ Relapse ★ J's fave
■ Runnin'
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