Trying to convince a teen in the throes of passion that their feelings are not the summit of human emotion is a fool’s errand. On Gap Year!, the debut full-length from Laila!, young love blossoms and withers with crushing intensity. The New York vocalist and producer plants you directly into the whirlwind that is life before 18, muddling through mixed signals and dreaming of being asked to prom. All the while, her melodies sound as though they issue from bedrooms plastered in Brandy and Lauryn Hill posters, a compressed mixture of sincerity and wit.
As the album title hints, Laila!—born Laila Smith, the daughter of rapper Yasiin Bey—is a dedicated student of the game. The self-described Brandy disciple graduated from high school a year early and began forging her path as a musician with nimble GarageBand flips of old Brandy and Aaliyah cuts. Her magnetic, carefree persona carried early singles “Like That!” and “Not My Problem,” which Cash Cobain subsequently flipped into a viral posse cut. The almost entirely self-produced Gap Year! is Laila!’s coming-out party, her own version of a throwback self-titled debut.
The record plays out as casually as an after-school hang, full of titles and themes that might’ve been rattling around since the morning bell. On lo-fi acoustic opener “Talent Show,” the tactile sounds of amps being plugged in and mics being adjusted seem to play over a scratchy cafeteria PA. Powered by a punchy bassline that wouldn’t be out of place on an early 2000s 702 album, “If U Don’t Know by Now” quivers in anticipation of being noticed by a crush (until then, she’ll leave a note in their locker). The restrained production allows her voice to shine, capitalizing on a sense of familiarity without feeling like a cynical retread.
On “Want 2,” Laila! lilts over a stripped-back, bouncy drum beat that spiritually belongs on the back half of the Like Mike soundtrack. Her croons carry an emotional conviction that makes you believe that she means every word. “Were we in love? That’s really what I wanna know/Tell me, what is it gonna take for you to let your feelings show?” she sings on “R U Down?” letting her voice carry as she puts the screws to a particularly frustrating guy.
Gap Year! peaks when Laila! centers her vocal performance, acting as a conduit for waves of high-school feelings. In weaker passages, its 17 tracks start to blend together; the repeated musings on love and relationships, especially from an 18-year-old’s perspective, can feel predictable. But there’s plenty of artistic personality to be found here, like the joyful pocket Laila! catches as she spits on “Sani (Homework Freestyle)” and “Not My Problem,” or the falsetto that pierces through the opening bars of “Could Be.” The subject matter may come with an expiration date, but Laila!’s endless stream of heartfelt declarations are worthy of the yearbook pages: “All the love in the world/Is there for you to find,” she sings on the bridge of “Sink 2 Rise.” Maybe youthful idealism isn’t so foolish at all.
