Star Rating: ★

Young the Giant just released their second studio album entitled Mind Over Matter, which has been highly anticipated after the great success from their first album self-entitled Young the Giant.

Some recognizable jams from Young the Giant are “My Body”, “Cough Syrup”, “Apartment”, and “I Got”. These songs have that classic alternative sound that listeners can’t help but love, and are still songs that are blast-worthy in the car. The two singles from the album were “My Body” and “Cough Syrup”, which were both ranked in the top five of the U.S. Alternative Songs Chart at the time of release. Young the Giant escaped its typical sound and style in this new hit album.

Mind Over Matter is not an album with guitar solos or any chorus to a song that one can easily pick up and sing along. This album has a little more of a pop sound to it than anticipated, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is a cool album because there are actually a lot of different styles within the thirteen song track list.

The initial vibe from Mind Over Matter was that it was like walking through one of those high end clothing stores in the mall, like Express or Armani Exchange. They usually play those poppy electronic songs which makes any shopper want to dance around the store. But the only songs on the album that are like that are “Anagram,” “Crystallized”, “Eros”, and “Waves”. These songs have that nice pop feel that make you want to put on sunglasses and run in the sand; they just make you happy.

Another type of sound on this album would almost fall into the category of “songwriter” if someone were to look up genres on iTunes. Songs like “Camera” and “Firelight” are really relaxing and soothing. Both songs have very little going on, having only some light guitar playing with pretty vocal harmonies and some keyboard chords.

The last style of music that is on this album is becoming popular within other alternative bands, and it offers more of a lighter alternative sound. The sound of songs such as “It’s About Time”, “Day Dreamer”, “In My Home”, “Teachers”, and “Paralysis” is pretty pleasing to the ear and have that nice guitar and upbeat drums, including the long held keyboard chords. The keyboard is one instrument that is heard a lot more of on this album than the group’s previous one. It is about time Young the Giant released this album and stepped out of their comfort zone a little bit.

Overall, the album is pretty relaxed and has cool keyboard sounds. Lead singer Sameer Ghadia also shows off his big vocal range and sings most of the songs in a higher key than accustomed to. It is definitely worth a listen, but it is a letdown from the group’s first album.