I wonder if there's more, or less pressure when your release falls around thirty minutes; that's enough time to have some big highs, and if there's a few slips along the way, there's still enough content to leave a favorable impression. On the other hand, it's a manageable "short album" — shouldn't all the tracks be carefully combed and ready to dazzle?

The Class Notes certainly start Resolution with an aim to punch a higher floor with tight singing and even tighter production. Bad Guy is a one-minute poppin', sophisticated intro. Super fun, but a true standalone and not attached to the rest. Bloodstream is very thoughtfully constructed on both the arrangement and production fronts; it's dense with a lot to listen to, and the singers build toward several defined moments along the way. Off to a great start.

Then, a slightly weaker offering with Hold, which sounds unsupported and without intentional drive here and there. Strong musicianship fundamentals (phrasing, breath control, centered pitch) also occasionally slip during Through With You, which starts strongly but slides in the back half.

Back to punching a higher floor, Delicate again offers the clean, precise, well-combed singing that every listener appreciates for a car commute singalong. But the real strength of this group is demonstrated in The End of Love, holy cats. It sounds like a poignant End of Act 1 sendoff, a piece that shows softness and vulnerability, and open emotions to step into. It's so heartfelt — you're pulled in like one long breath, then exhaled with the performers.

If that's the end of Act 1, we start Act 2 under the spell of soloist Julia Chang in Desert Rose. She nearly gives a ticketed exposition of singing — listen to her brillance, and be amazed from your seat.

Touching on the last two pieces, I'm less impressed. Speechless loses some impact under this chorale presentation, and the vp needs more variety, too. In terms of material selection, Sandcastles is a risky way to end; one certainly doesn't need to be formulaic and go for a splashy uptempo closer, but if you're going to end by telling the story of a difficult relationship, it's harder to get repeat listens. But since The Class Notes went there, the lead could have opened the wounds with more vocal expression to make it really hurt so good.

So, it's a teeter-totter of a half-hour with Resolution. Save your favorites and rejoice in The End of Love.

Upon hearing Resolution, I was convinced I was listening to the Cornell Class Notes for the first time. Then I looked back and saw that I had also reviewed the group's previous album, Here. While the group shows significant improvements in tone quality and pitch accuracy, the Class Notes haven't done quite enough to move the needle with Resolution.

Markedly changing the conversation around the Class Notes's work is the top-notch mixing from Angela Ugolini. Sounds are clear, clean, and balanced, and listeners will not be distracted by errant intonation. In fact, there are moments of pure excellence, as when the album begins. Bad Guy sets a high bar and evokes memories of groups like Frisky Business: what is this intimate, electronic sound? What is to come? In that first minute, I was hooked and ready for more.

From there, though, the aforementioned excellence becomes sparse: most songs chug along to the tune of empty phrases, uninspired voicing and dynamics, and patched-in vocal percussion sounds. While its individual sounds are well-produced, Bloodstream is lacking tension-and-release moments within and between its individual sections. As I know the Taylor Swift original, Delicate loses me as a near-transcription of the electro-pop vocal intro with a bottom-heavy voicing. Songs like Desert Rose and Speechless ultimately employ the kind of dynamic ebb-and-flow that can take a listener on a journey, but they first appear far too late. Sandcastles is presented in such a simple, straightforward way with significant blank space that takes away from the expression of sweetness.

There are certainly instances for growth. The End of Love is full of lush background vocals featuring 7th chords and suspensions with dynamic-forward motion buoyed by subtle solo stylings. The vocal bridge of Through With You is wholly redeeming of its plodding bookends. The arrival of pitch-bending slides and exploration of dynamic extremes in the latter half of Speechless are welcome elements to the track. The soloist for Hold performs with wonderful attention to pop embellishments that could serve as an example in appropriate moments for other songs.

The Class Notes are coming off the highs of an ICCA Finals appearance this past season and are no stranger to strong, clear presentations of musical ideas. For its future recorded work, the group could stand to harness some of its boldness in innovation to build on the foundations laid here on Resolution.

The opening of Resolution is strong, but incomplete. Bad Guy shows a lot of promise and gives a good introduction to The Class Notes before abruptly stopping prior to the first chorus. It's a very curious choice, hinting at some sort of theme, though I found no references back to this original track. Thus, it's an incomplete thought to start the album. Bloodstream is the first full track of Resolution, and establishes the group with a sound that is darker but methodically calculated. I'm absolutely enamored with soloist Justin Shih and their sound. The only flaw this track has is that the climax is a little lacking.

That lack of a musical climax permeates the album. The End of Love highlights this issue. Arrangers Avani Bhargava, Milo Reynolds-Dominguez, and Amal Tyagi penned a lot of beautiful chords, but this piece falls incredibly flat. It starts with a hummed background to let soloist Sonal Tyagi tell the story. Once the voices shift to open vowels, the overall volume of the piece never changes for the remainder of the song. However, more startling than the lack of dynamic contrast is the lack of an energy contrast. The energy of The End of Love feels incredibly monochromatic, whether at loud "ah" vowels or quiet "ooh"s. This is what kills all the potential, as there is no room to let the music grow and evolve. It's possible to put energy into the loudest and quietest backgrounds to give them direction and make the audience hold their breath until the very last chord. Without such energy, the piece is just well-written chords and a soloist doing their best to be a focal point.

Sandcastles is a curious ending to Resolution. My first note when I heard it was that the song sounded different — if I didn't know better, I would think that it was a live recording. This live energy seems to fix some of the early issues. Suddenly, the humming has direction. Soloist Cara Slovinsky has some room to let the story flow. The tuning improves and the chords ring. The lack of a true emotional climax still greatly affects the overall impact of the piece, but it's one of the stronger songs on Resolution.

Overall, the only thing really standing in the group's way of being great is the group itself. There are some strong soloists and good musical ideas across this release. A lack of energy is an issue that is easy to fix and gives a large amount of depth to the group's sound. It will add life to the more straightforward pieces and make the best musical moments of the group really sparkle. There's a lot here that could truly shine, and proper energy is what will make it happen.