If you ever needed proof that we find ourselves in a fully post-genre world, then a quick spin of Tyrin’s latest EP, Blue Hour, will show you exactly how far we are along such a path. People have always mixed and matched styles and genres and stormed musical barricades, but in the past, they would have been seen as outsiders, mavericks, the exception to the rule.
The great thing about Tyrin is that not only does he wander across the musical landscape to find influence and inspiration, but what he creates with those sonic threads is both deftly done and brilliantly accessible: the sound of the mainstream growing up, the charts being covertly taken over by smarter music makers.
If “A Little Bit More” runs on a pop-rock groove, it also plays with a more urban vibe and an indie lightness. “Where I’d Fall” reworks R&B sounds and sets them to a hip-hop beat, but the result doesn’t really fit into either genre that comfortably, and I say that in a good way. It is the sound of one and one making three…something more than the sum of its parts.
“All Over Again” plays to Tyrin’s pop-punk past but again swerves the obvious and heads more into shimmering indie-pop territory, and “Samba” is an understated ballad forged of island vibes and steel pan sonics, the perfect way to play us out of the EP.
Pop music, perhaps more than any other genre, moves quickly, subject to the constantly changing winds of fashion and fads. But I get the feeling that as soon as those winds move on, and Blue Hour is regarded as something no longer in vogue, it will find itself on a steady haul towards that rarefied air of classic status. And that is the real prize.
