The Secret Handshake - Night And Day (ALBUM REVIEW)

Click READ MORE to check out my review of The Secret Handshake's new album.

What do you do when your style has become so disliked and watered down? Well that is a good question. You can soldier on or hope people somehow lump you into the better than the rest category, or you can go the way The Secret Handshake’s Luis Dubac went on his new album Night And Day. The album is a complete style shift with a Motown feel, horns, instruments, and not much of the signature auto tune electronic vibe you have come to know from Dubac. So the big question is how good is it? Well it depends on your perception of The Secret Handshake and it depends on what you expect or want from Dubac. The album is different.

I was highly disappointed with My Name In Lights. I thought the album would have built on some of the better parts of The Secret Handshake. When Dubac’s biggest single “Summer Of 98” was released a few years ago, I enjoyed the track and it showed some nice progress and good use of the media he was working with. My Name In Lights did not do much to improve Dubac’s reputation and I definitely did not see it on very many end-of-the-year lists. I think the main downfall of Dubac is his vocal ability. While masked a little on One Full Year it came off as okay, when it showed up without many effects on My Name In Lights I was less than impressed. It is definitely better on this album than on My Name In Lights but it is still fairly weak. Often times the songs sound too powerful for his voice. Tracks like “Domino” where the music overpowers his vocals make it a hard listen, which unfortunately is a similar case with most of the album.

It was hard to make it through this one. It was not very interesting despite the style switch. It felt forced. It sounds like this album was an attempt to move away from a stagnate style in hopes of generating some buzz. The experimentation was welcomed in some ways. I will not deny I am more than tired of the millions of electronic laptop artists that have emerged over the last few years, but style change or not it just does not impress me. Musically if you like the style, it does what it needs to do. Ultimately, the vocals just are not that impressive. Like with My Name In Lights the vocals are one of the things that destroy the flow and enjoyment of the album, for me at least.

A shiny spot on the album is that “Used To Be Sweet” is a good track. I like the flow and Lights is a good guest for the track. It would be a good choice for a single. I like the balance of this song between Dubac’s vocal abilities and the music itself.

Overall, I would say this album could have been a cool experiment and I applaud Dubac for taking a chance and he does a decent job at pulling off a new genre. Still the weak areas have not been improved upon on this album and overall it just feels boring. If you were a fan of the electronic vibe, this album may alienate you. If you did not like Dubac’s vocals before, the same problems are evident on this release. If you do not mind a style switch and enjoyed the vocals, check it out because it might be for you.