Review Summary: Generic indie pop - also good.
As luck would have it, when I was shopping on vacation with my wife this weekend, in a local shop there was a song playing. The song (after I asked the cashier) was Drive by Sam Valdez. I liked the song enough to pursue the album itself, and it turns out the artist doesn’t have much exposure. Only 24,777 monthly listeners on Spotify as of this review, that’s it. Long story short, I like her 2021 album entitled Take Care. It’s not particularly remarkable, but it’s quite likeable.
Take Care is an indie pop album with shoegaze elements. It’s a ridiculously average album with almost nothing that makes the album stand out from the slew of indie pop artists…. yet I like it. Sam Valdez is a great songwriter. The lyrics are beautifully filled with melancholy and poetic, personal musings. The pace of the album is slow, with no rush to get anywhere, and the music is content in remaining chill. It’s a vibe. Sam definitely has an indie girl voice, gradually crawling up to notes rather than directly hitting them, a stylistic tendency that usually succeeds. Sometimes she sounds a little too bored, but overall, she matches the gloomy mood of the music, and her presence on the mic is very agreeable.
Take Care does not get the blood pumping. It’s great background music, something nice enough that anyone could listen to it, but it also lacks uniquely engaging qualities. The shoegaze and electronic elements could’ve been used with a little more gusto, but this is not a brash album by any stretch. Save for the catchy choruses in the album (which the album is stuffed with), this experience goes in one ear and out the other due to the lazy, hazy soundscape. While it’s a shame the musical backdrop doesn’t please as much as the dynamite songwriting, the experience is pleasant enough to not deter or annoy. Take Care is an inoffensive, calm listen, and a great start for an unknown artist.
