It's a privilege to prepare the reviewing ritual for TAG: listen to the prior albums, read the old critiques, imagine what awaits for track #3, then speculate on coming-of-age themes and messages for this go-around. I simply never tire of TAG, and I can't imagine there's a listener in our community who won't feel inspired by what these musicians achieve.

My adjectives for the group's opener, If I'm Honest, represent a lot of the music for Look At Me Now. Those words — captivating, funky, confident — hold true whether the songs presented are ballads or rockers, flashy or vulnerable. There's a clear, contemporary style for Look At Me Now. This style comes with cohesive, challenging arrangements (Tom Anderson with Will Cabaniss offering the final title song), very deliberate Liquid 5th production programming featuring popped and heavily produced VP and bass (noticeably more synthetic than prior releases), and signature featured upper voices. The release is very loud, and very commanding. There's a power-lifting strength in this sound that's undeniable and stays present for the listeners from top to bottom…

…which is why it's so very effective when the group makes us lean in for something different.

Coveted track three belongs to an original from lead Kristen Noble entitled Stars on the Ceiling. My one-word note for this song? Devastating. You'll need to listen to it more than once, but it won't be easy. We're treated to a second original, too. Amateur, from Jasmine Cosby, is another new offering for Look At Me Now. Cosby creates a lot of sonic appeal here that simply dazzles within her words.

Where else will you lean in? How about suddenly switching the huge stage sound for a delicate after-show club vibe a few streets back with chemtrails; this one feels so palpably intimate we might be the only ones who got invited.

TAG works for effective impact, and the group's approach is successful and memorable on this release. Not once do I grow bored or restless for the duration of Look At Me Now — beautiful voices and strong ear-catching choices hold us close track after track.

Cypress Lake High School's TAG is consistent from album to album. Look At Me Now continues the group's recent trajectory, with covers of bright contemporary pop songs plus a couple of memorable originals, all with impeccable arrangements (in this case, 9 by Tom Anderson, 1 by Will Cabaniss) and fantastic production. Shoot, even the things I mention about TAG are consistent from album to album.

The originals are usually among the high points of any TAG album, and Look At Me Now is no different: Kristen Noble's Stars on the Ceiling is one of the best tracks from a recent TAG album; both lyrically and sonically, it captures the melancholy of saying goodbye and moving on, with a maturity beyond most high schoolers'. I hope that Noble continues with music writing and performing in her college and post-collegiate career, as her solos and originals during her time in TAG have been outstanding. Later in the album, TAG's Jasmine Cosby's original Amateur conveys a jilted post-breakup point of view; it's a bit more of a typical teenage perspective, but the arrangement keeps the song moving, and Cosby's solo is solid.

As far as the covers, TAG has some outstanding recordings here: If I'm Honest is a phenomenal recording and a great way to kick off this album. The trio (Kristen Noble, Gabby Cabai, and Skylar Manietta) blends together like one voice in harmony with itself. Absolutely outstanding. There are solid songs all over this album, from the lilting chemtrails to the album-closing Look At Me Now. But there are also a few that don't really jibe — Rock With You is beautifully-performed, but a random throwback disco/funk song doesn't really fit with the modern pop vibe of the rest of the album. It is notably the only song on Look At Me Now with a soloist from the lower register, which just draws attention to the treble-heavy demographics of the group. Most of Fall In Love Alone sounds great, but the percussion line sounds very copy/paste sampled, and it's so distracting to this listener that it's all I can hear by the song's end.

Perhaps those are just minor quibbles; all in all, Look At Me Now is a wonderful album that stands up well in TAG's overall discography. The group posted on its Bandcamp album page that 2/3rds of the group is seniors, so I eagerly wait to see if the next generation of TAGers can continue to perform and record at such a high standard.

Almost like clockwork, it's time for TAG's annual release. I love so much of what this group does year after year, and Look At Me Now is no exception.

This album plays so heavily on rhythm. If I'm Honest starts this off with a bang. The middle voices have this great rhythm guitar riff just bouncing around. Pair this with a funky bassline and a perfectly balanced trio of Kristen Noble, Gabby Cabai, and Skylar Manietta and you get a fun and funky start to this album. Saturday continues this feel but now adds chord structures with more depth and complexity. This piece just goes down smooth. Aubrey Barnhouse's solo is a balance of powerful jazz belting and smooth R&B groove that I can't quite get enough of. These two song choices just perfectly encapsulate the personality of TAG to me and I'm a big fan.

The next facet of this album that always impresses me is the incorporation of original songwriting into the album. Kristen Noble tells a tale of growing pains and missing a life that has now been outgrown and replaced in Stars on the Ceiling. Jasmine Cosby sings of bitter hatred for a cheating lover on Amateur. Each piece has its own individual depth and unique voice. While I have no proof of this, I am firmly convinced that this is not a professional arranger being handed a melody and chords and told to "make it work". This is a fully imagined, explored, and thought-out piece that was fully flushed out and then handed to an arranger to perhaps transfer into the a cappella medium. The fact that any piece that comes from a high school student could reach this level of professional creation is incredible. The fact that there are two on this album is nothing short of remarkable. That this is the fourth album in a row from the group to have this feat speaks volumes of the choral program and its legacy of phenomenal musicianship.

Finally, we get to the last track. Look At Me Now is such an odd track to review. At face value, there's nothing wrong with the song; on the contrary, I love this track. The piece features some really cool dense chords and strong focal points in Jasmine Cosby and Marianna Young. The ending minute with the building intensity to the phrase "I can't run anymore" is incredibly powerful. However, the group voice for this track is so incredibly different. Part of this likely stems from it being the only track arranged by Will Cabaniss while all other nine tracks are arranged by Tom Anderson. While I'm fans of both of these individuals and their abilities, it almost feels like the last track is a bonus track rather than the closing track. It doesn't change my scoring at all — this is still a phenomenal album — but it speaks towards my feelings toward about the release: this is an album with so many bright shining moments that I'm complaining that one track is shining in a different way than the others. Even with a different voice, TAG continues to radiate.

The A Cappella Group always highlights so much of why I love the high school a cappella scene. Teenagers can so easily be painted as immature and incapable of the emotional depth and musical ability to compete with college-aged groups or older. TAG counters that by giving a performance that is fun but with plenty of emotional depth, too. The music is complex but easily approachable and digested by any audience. It is the application of the fundamentals, done so consistently, that makes even the hardest musical moments sound easy. Well done, TAG, and I can't wait for your next release.