While Jared Fullerman’s efforts and ambition shine through on Ins, the album is unfortunately a mixed bag.
I’m in the mood for something risky, so let’s try a real-time listen this time. What could go wrong?
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Primary Artist
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“And all the things that are best to me end as the ones that rot at my feet.”
There’s nothing I love more than the feeling of pulling something random without expecting much, and it completely grabs your attention. Think about the feeling you probably got from a not-so-distant past scrolling through YouTube and stumbling upon a video or channel that would eventually eat up a great chunk of your weekends to come. That’s the aura this opening track oozes with. It is a refreshing, lightly atmospheric, introspective piece. It doesn’t do anything too much to “stand out” per se; rather, it works with the very best parts of a familiar sonic palette to create an inviting opener.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Background Vocals, Percussion, Cymbals, Tambourine, Triangle, Primary Artist
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“But the sun is only on the run, and these wings are aging fast.” We have a neat transition leading into this track. The track itself is overall brighter in comparison to the opener, but like the opener, it plays well within familiar Vampire Weekend–esque sonic palettes to create something that is both familiar and unique.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Percussion, Cymbals, Tambourine, Triangle, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
No complaints so far. As stated in the previous comments about the opening pair of tracks, this track really pulls its whole approach from a lite version of a remarkably familiar sound, but it does its very best with it. The vocals, which have been fine for the most part thus far, really reach for a retired choir boy aura on this one. I suspect that things will continue similarly for the album’s remainder.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Cymbals, Primary Artist
Songwriter
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Mastering Engineer
Talk about “retired choir boy” with the opening batch of vocals on this track. It drifts from a subtle hymnal into a kick-ridden poppy second half. I like the subtle production ad-libs that come in at will.
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Synthesizer, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Percussion, Tambourine, Primary Artist
Songwriter
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Mastering Engineer
I appreciate the album’s seamlessness thus far. On this track, I feel the vocals on the piano-solo portions could’ve used a bit more... “umph,” because it feels strangely like a singing student singing to their teacher—not that I mean to be offensive with that comparison, though.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Uh oh.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Percussion, Cymbals, Tambourine, Triangle, Primary Artist
Songwriter
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Mastering Engineer
And here we have a simple instrumental.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Cymbals, Shaker, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Well, just like with the sixth track, I’m not exactly feeling this one either, but the album still holds promise, I’m sure. “And what exactly aren’t you feeling?” you might ask. Sincerely, the singing does come off a little try-hard/fail-soft. And the song structures that were refreshing in the beginning feel way too formulaic here. But I haven’t lost hope.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Percussion, Cymbals, Tambourine, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Uh oh. I’m quivering a bit now, but I still have hope.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Primary Artist
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This instrumental’s a lot smoother than the previous one.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Tambourine, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Okay. We seem to be getting back on track here. The lyricism inches into downright cheesy territory, but the production masks all of that well enough.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Percussion, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
I’m glad that we get a piano ballad that doesn’t sound like an audio assignment. The singing is thankfully a lot more compatible with the track’s vibe this time. I love the way this tracks builds gradually to its end and doesn’t waste a second of its nine-minute runtime. Lyrics could’ve used a little refinement, but I have no major complaints.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Cymbals, Primary Artist
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So now we get our first of eight “conclusion” tracks. This one, as the title implies, is an instrumental.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Percussion, Cymbals, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
I can’t tell if this is the fault of the mixing, but the vibe on this track feels like it’s almost trying to be nondescript.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Tambourine, Shaker, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Quite the transition we got here. And oh boy, this one’s a strong leg-up.
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Synthesizer, Vocals, Drums, Background Vocals, Cymbals, Primary Artist
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Cool.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Background Vocals, Percussion, Primary Artist
Songwriter
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Mastering Engineer
Short but cool.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Background Vocals, Percussion, Tambourine, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
I’m moderately amused with the vibe of these closing tracks overall.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass Guitar, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Percussion, Cymbals, Tambourine, Primary Artist
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Alright.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Drum Machine, Primary Artist
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On the closer, we return to the vibe of the opening track.
And there we have it: Jared Fullerman’s Ins. Let’s start with my “complaints.” The lyrics. Early on, they were mostly good, if not strong outright. But understandably, it can be a task holding up that energy throughout a one-hour album. Then there are the vocals. The vocals overall, I feel, could have used a bit more... “taste.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for oddball singing techniques, but the singing really felt like homework a lot of the time on this album.
Now, the things I like. The... “vibe.” I like the fact that there’s never a hint of half-assery on this project. The transitions between tracks are seamless. The production, at times, can be very good if not amazing. The singing and writing also have their high points.
Overall, we have an album that I feel is safe to describe as a “mixed bag.” We get the great, the “meh,” the skips, the cringe, and the sour aftertastes. I would recommend giving this a listen at least once. I imagine this does have potential to grow on the listener, but admittedly, I’m not keen on revisiting the project in full. I am, however, already revisiting some of the better tracks on the record, so there’s that. In all, I cannot commend Jared enough for putting effort into his what appears to be his sophomore LP.
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Synthesizer, Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Drum Machine, Background Vocals, Primary Artist, Drums, Electric Bass Guitar, Percussion, Cymbals, Tambourine, Triangle, Shaker
Songwriter
Producer, Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer