$ome $exy $ongs 4 U Review

Released on Valentine's Day, positioned as a retreat into the bedroom sound both men helped build, and immediately far too long for what it is. PartyNextDoor is the better vocalist and the record knows it, handing him hooks and whole tracks while the headliner talks over the outros. Nokia is the one that caught on, a bouncy thing with a hook that sticks. Gimme a Hug is the closest he comes to addressing a year that went badly for him, which is to say he mentions it and changes the subject.

The production is warm and expensive and completely uniform, twenty odd tracks at the same tempo under the same reverb, so nothing stands out because nothing is allowed to. The writing is the usual late catalogue material, women who disappointed him and men who owe him, minus the humour and minus the sting. It is pleasant background, and pleasant background from the man who made Take Care is a decline.