Don't You

Photographer: Milan Zrnic.
On Wet's delicately pretty Don't You, the young trio from Brooklyn offers a sweet debut brimming with innocence, romance, and the sometimes uncertain moments that float in between, enveloping those empty spaces with a comforting embrace. Much of Wet's strength lies in the angelic vocals that glide over the warm-textured atmospherics. Here, Kelly Zutrau confidently delivers breathless coos and confident pleas that draw focus to the lyrical tenderness -- whether she's lamenting a fading love with resignation or proclaiming her devotion -- while Joseph Valle and Martin Sulkow create flowing soundscapes that shimmer like water at sunset. The calming effect of the music is hypnotic: "Don't Wanna Be Your Girl" is warm and patient, while the peaceful "Island" allows the listener to float away on a twilight wave. The bulk of the album swells with the same precious yearning, illustrated in the longing push and pull of "Body" and the sweeping rush of "Move Me." The livelier moments appear on first single "Deadwater," the "Where Did Our Love Go"-esque "Weak," and album highlights "All the Ways" and the tropical "You're the Best." Catchy and upbeat, these are the poppiest offerings on an album that is otherwise content with patience, comfort, and peace, which helps differentiate Wet from scene peers who craft similarly gorgeous downtempo, R&B-inflected indie pop, like Broods and Vaults. ~ Neil Z. Yeung