The Way It Is

With a career history that includes playing support to the likes of Steps, Boyzone and B*Witched, it is reasonable to expect that Madasun’s debut LP is not going to be a feast of white noise. Instead, it’s a slickly polished collection of r’n’b, soul and pop.

There’s no faffing about either. It’s familiar territory right from the off, with singles ‘Don’t You Worry’, ‘Walking On Water’ and ‘Feel Good’ massaging the senses into submission as the well-oiled pop machine moves into gear. Sure it’s aural bubblegum, but sometimes there’s nothing better than when your ears go POP!

The same can be said of most of The Way It Is, with the main criticism being that it all gets a little tedious after a while. Songs like ‘Don’t Hate Me’ and ‘Fine

Line’ aren’t likely to have you reaching for the sick bag, but you won’t be looking up synonyms for ‘ground-breaking’ either.

The middle of the album sees them ease off on the accelerator somewhat. ‘Sunday Morning’ is a mid-tempo wannabe soul affair with a chorus worthy of the name. ‘That’s The Way It Is’ is a piano ballad that tries to out-epic Celine Dion, and is hard to warm to as a result, while a string section embellishes and improves ‘Get Away’ no end.

The pace lifts as they come in sight of the finishing post, with ‘All I Want’ coming on like a diluted Bryan Adams, and the closing ‘These Are Your Days’ trying its best to be anthemic.

The Way It Is is a reasonable slice of melodic, albeit formulaic, pop pap. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling as I listened that I was on some sort of a musical diet and had to steer clear of more meaty fare.