Album Review: William Beckett - 'Walk The Talk EP'

William Beckett has always had the necessary elements needed to make ladies swoon. Be it his dishevelled rock star appearance, the fact that he can get into really skinny jeans or his smooth vocal abilities, the man fronts a band well. These days however, he is without the band, left to do things all on his lonesome since the break up of The Academy is..., the group which brought Beckett his fame.

After messing around with a bunch of live acoustic video postings and a whole lot of not much else, Beckett has released his first post-TAI work in the form of an EP titled, 'Walk The Talk.' The singer/songwriter has pulled a bit of a Patrick Stump, slicking up his appearance and writing some radio friendly, pop influenced music to hopefully have a snag at a bigger audience.

Opening track Compromising Me mixes some folk country basics in with electronic pop, a combination which interestingly contains a decent balance between Beckett's existing unique style and the mainstream sound which he is clearly aiming for. The distorted spoken word is a little bit on the lame side but the production elements of the song are solid.

The stand out of the EP is second track, Girl You Should Have Been A Drummer, which sits Beckett comfortably in the genre he should be aiming for, classic pop rock full of class, fifties to sixties style. The up-tempo, bouncy beat drives this track while Beckett sings about a romantic entanglement with a twist.
 
If the new American Pie movie needed another song for its soundtrack, Oh, Love would be it, for reasons both lyrical and musical. Teenage drama clichés aside, the track does feature some impressive guitar melody and harmony work. The EP closes with You Never Give Up, which aims to end things in a grandiose stadium ballad way, whether it is successful of not is up for debate but it does once again confirm that Beckett has pipes worthy of hearing.

A solo career is the true test for William Beckett to see if he is the rock star and capable musician that The Academy Is... made him out to be. Whilst this EP is too small an offering to see if the songwriter can actually walk the talk, it's not a bad start.

1. Compromising Me  
2. Girl, You Shoulda Been a Drummer  
3. Oh, Love  
4. You Never Give Up