Sometimes my expectations and barometers of "success" gets a bit skewed as I enter my 4th decade of listening to and evaluating a cappella music. There have been so many bar-raising achievements from technical and artistic standpoints over such a lifecycle. If I'm expecting life-changing sounds every time I listen to a new a cappella recording, I'm going to miss a lot of the good that comes along under the radar. Current collegiate groups have access to recording techniques and technology unheard of 10, 20, and 40 years ago. The demands of the discerning ear can be astronomical nowadays. Pristine and perfect production is de rigeur for any type of acclaim. Note that that's access to and not ability to utilize these standard elements effectively though.

That expectation resulted in my gut reaction to the initial listen to Horizon by The Stanford Mendicants. But, sometimes you have to consider the attempt.

So my first thought was: this is bad. But it's not. The more I listened to the album, the more I liked it. Moments of Horizon are quite good in fact, but not at a consistent level to garner high acclaim. It's nowhere near the dreaded "yearbook" nomenclature, yet conversely far from being a showstopper. Some production elements are all over the place, like the opening effect on Beggin'; begging y'all not to do that again.

The major issue of the album is associating soloists with certain songs. Some are stellarly paired. Leland Fong, Chehan Wijayaratne, and Alex Mescher should hang their jerseys up in whatever Mendicants equivalency there is for retiring their respective songs Creep, Rolling in the Deep and Your Man. Those are theirs forever and ever amen.

Speaking of Rolling in the Deep, it is probably the most intriguing song on the album; not the most passionate (Creep) nor the sexiest (Your Man) but intriguing nonetheless. I was caught off guard with the inclusion of Wellerman but can't say that I dislike it. Nor do I dislike the EDM-inspired dubstep bridge. Was it the best use of 30 seconds of music … nope … but I'll never forget it. And can't that be a good goal to achieve? That's a bit of interesting creativity running there.

The visceral scream and the physical reaction I had to the opening chords and first verse of Your Man were honestly a bit frightening. It's a song I've loved since hearing the Josh Turner and NC native Randy Travis duet in 2006, but it didn't really sink into my heart until another tar heel (Scotty McCreery) laid it down during his American Idol audition and subsequent performances and recordings. Mescher perfectly captures the spirit and swagger of this luscious tune. The background is just as cheesy as the average listener should expect from an a cappella cover of this song. Year made so far. Laughing, crying, swooning. Thanks.

The Stanford Mendicants have produced an enjoyable album of nostalgic songs across an interesting genre landscape. A purchase is probably on the horizon for some of you readers out there.

Keeping with tradition, the Mendicants offer a jukebox journey for listeners with Horizon. Not much in the way of thrills or chills here, but putting our community's old school aca hits Watcha Say and Creep alongside generational high school hits I'll Make Love to You and What a Wonderful World does require courage.

In addition to song selection, arrangements are a talking point on Horizon. There were very deliberate choices made to add creativity and ensure these covers weren't merely transcriptions of the originals; your satisfaction mileage will vary based on your relationship with the source material. Looking at Rolling in the Deep as a core example, we start out with the strength of a military marching off to battle; it's hard not to be immediately captivated by this fresh spin on Adele. But the project derails with a mix-in of Wellermen followed by a curious dubstep breakdown. Too many ideas remove the listener from the established experience, and that first experience was already terrific. Creep went through quite a process, too. This version clocks in at 2:23 — no instrumental intro, just a running start toward the iconic climax that switches out Radiohead's falsetto masterclass for a power belt section. It's Creep-condensed, but certainly not Creep-light. I'm down for this change.

Also per usual, the Mendicants have a more traditional singing style of classical choral versus pop radio. This suits some pieces exquisitely, especially the backgrounds on What a Wonderful World that sound like they just stepped out of Glee Club practice against a silky smooth lead from Brendan Reeves. If you're not feeling serenity after this, restart your software. Conversely, the strident, loud singing on I'll Make Love to You isn't exactly warm and mood-setting. Speaking of deliberate styles, how bold of a NorCal group to keep authentic country twang on Your Man; it sounds eerily on-point, but perhaps the lead's natural voice could have given us a new story to enjoy.

Horizon is bookended with a punchy zip through Beggin' and A-O-K, offering strong first and last impressions. That's largely how I feel about the Mendicants' work as a whole; there are always muted offerings in each release, but reliably, there's something cool worth a playlist add, too.

At least since I started reviewing them, The Stanford Mendicants have been improving with each album. I've really appreciated the diversity in song choice combined with some risky, albeit sometimes unpolished, musical choices taken with every project to which I've listened. Horizon is no different — weird, unpolished, risky, and ultimately a ton of fun.

I'd like to get my grievances out of the way first, because they're mostly moment-specific oddities rather than pervasive, consistent issues. Beggin' is a fiery opener that is just a bit too aggressive to the point where the background vocals even overpower the solo in many instances. Whatcha Say leans a bit too much into the electronic and autotune vibes of the original without capturing the minute attention to detail in the original production that's needed — this makes it come across as a bit heavy-handed and too cheesy. Rolling in the Deep's use of Wellerman leaves me split — it sounds great, but lyrically it's too clashing for a mashup. Creep is excellent — I wish it wasn't so abridged. Wild's balance of the harmonies in the first verse comes across as unintentionally unstable. Your Man could use a touch more musical momentum throughout the track. What a Wonderful World could use a touch gentler quiet moments, and could do without the shoehorned Over The Rainbow reference at the end. A-O-K is an okay track, but it's an anticlimactic album closer.

Now that that's out of the way, I'll note that the weakest moments on the album are carried by amazing solo work. It's a great safety net to have because it actively sells even the eyebrow-raising stuff. In my review of Trailblazer, I said, "I can't really shout out any [soloists] because it's hard to think of a single one that I wouldn't shout out." While the solo work is as consistent on this album, Chehan Wijayaratne on Rolling in the Deep, Leland Fong on Creep, and David Liu on I'll Make Love to You definitely deserve special mention.

Sound balance and arrangement layering have also made big improvements across the board. Trailblazer sonically comes across as too midrange-heavy, but I notice no such issue on Horizon except on Your Man. Core group sound is both warm and bright — it is still defined by strong midrange voices, but they no longer feel confined there. Additionally, the arrangers have crafted arrangements that use the group's voices across multiple ranges better, resulting in a much more consistent musical connectivity.

These improvements allow for the diverse and risky song choices to shine even more. Rolling in the Deep is a deceptively tough song to execute this well, and to follow it with Creep and I'll Make Love to You and make the arc coherent is an impressive feat. I really enjoy many of the arrangement choices Brendan Reeves made on What a Wonderful World to make the song fit the Mendicants' style. Leave the Door Open isn't perfect — the background lyric echoes are mostly great but sometimes they'll sound noticeably phoned in — but it's still strong enough to be one of my favorites on the album.

All of these virtues culminate in an incredibly enjoyable collegiate a cappella album listen with some great replayability. The Mendicants are seemingly inches away from an Overall "5" score. To my ears, it is no longer sweeping corrections that are needed, but rather cleaning up individual moments of their low-hanging fruit. When that happens, it'll allow the Mendicants' strengths to shine with little to no distractions, and that will be a force to be reckoned with.