After the 2021 release, Midnight Waves, I was very keen to see what the award-winning Jewish a cappella group, Rak Shalom, would deliver next.

Two years later, the answer is a somewhat more consistent effort than the group's prior albums, but one which still falls a bit short of being truly satisfying.

As before, they've lined up an A+ team of pros to handle the tech so as a sonic experience, Cloud Nine sounds terrific. Indeed, I'd be hard-pressed to imagine an end product that had passed through the hands of Evan Feist, Mel Daneke, Ed Boyer, and Dave Sperandio which wouldn't sound fantastic.

"Ah, but underneath!", to quote Mr. Sondheim.

There, it's something of a mixed bag.

What is definitely not an issue is the energy the group brings to its performance. Though sometimes a problem in the past, both the singing itself, and the way it has been mixed and mastered places everything "super-forward". When they're singing loudly (which is most of the album; more on that below), Rak Shalom is very much in-your-face as their sound rings in your ears, so steel yourself and be ready.

What is at issue here is a number of problems that have plagued the group across numerous prior recordings.

Thankfully, with the exception of the closing All For Us — whose generic treatment here is either a triumph of reimagination or drowning a complex flavor palette in vanilla (personally, it feels like the latter) — the arrangements have a certain consistency to them that has been lacking in the past. As was the case with Midnight Waves, I'm not always a fan of the choices, but I'm a fan of the group's decision to choose.

Unfortunately, there is a palpable lack of attention to certain details: dynamics chiefly among them. "Super-forward" (to borrow my phrase above) isn't a bad thing, but "relentlessly loud" takes its toll after a while. On the whole, so much of the material here is loud and louder and the material the singers are covering doesn't require it. More importantly, if anyone actually still takes in a full album anymore in one sitting, a listener's ears will have trouble tolerating it.

Also less-than-diligent at times is the group's focus on the words they're singing — how they're arranged and how they're sung. By way of one example: whether it's Yafa Yarkoni's original, or Jane Bordeaux's more recent cover, Erev Shel Shoshanim is still a plaintive love song. Being at your most fortissimo, and most strident, on lyrics that translate to "Night falls slowly, and a breeze of roses blows, let me whisper a song to you quietly, a song of love" is just a poor choice (and it's not how Bordeaux delivers the song either so I can't blame the cover). The original of Lonely almost arranges itself, but Shua Kanarek and Yonah Hamermesh can't resist the temptation to have their arrangement build too early. As a group, the volume is already turned up too high long before they get to the chorus, so the power of the "chorused" words from the original — which are the source of the song's poignancy alongside the lyrics themselves — is diminished rather than enhanced.

In a similar vein are a number of arranging choices that seem like they exhibit a desire to show off, pull out the stops, add bells and whistles — pick your idiom of choice — without truly considering the tone, theme, lyrics, or overall feel of the song. There are several of these, but a quick selection would include the busy-ness of the aforementioned Erev Shel Shoshanim, the 2-3 re-harms in the chorus of Shir Shel Boker (which to my ear really don't work at all), and the back half of Adon Olam.

One other quibble, which likely will bother very few besides me (and will make this review a lot longer than usual). And it comes with the caveat that perhaps the liner notes for the physical album itself (if there even is a physical album and/or liner notes) are clearer on this. But I'm disappointed that where RARB asks for the "Songwriter" of each selection on a recording, Rak Shalom entered the equivalent of "as performed by". What's more, even if we look past that (which I am generally not keen to do, as songwriters should receive credit for their work), there are many errors even in the info provided. Most egregiously, Adon Olam is in fact called Sharm El Sheikh, written by Yoel Dan, Ran Eliran, and Dan Ettinger (and was only adapted subsequently to the liturgical lyrics of Adon Olam). Less severe but annoying nevertheless, Nothing Breaks Like a Heart is Mark Ronson ft. Miley Cyrus, and Beyachad is sung by Marina Maximilian and Guy Mentesh (which is notable here because the song has been transposed and the male solo sings his part down the octave, which robs the song of some of its emotion). Yes, I know this seems like nitpicking, but songwriting is songwriting and "APB" is something else. Either way, get your info right.

Stepping off my soapbox, if Rak Shalom is up on Cloud Nine, they're in a bit of a holding pattern with me. They haven't shown a great deal of growth or development over the last couple of years, but they continue to put out emotionally sung material that packs a punch. A little more attention to the details next time and I'll once again be excited to hear what they come up with.

The vast majority of recorded albums submitted to RARB have their group members and soloists track separately. The goal, of course, is to create a unified sound in which the listener believes they are hearing a homogenous product, as if the group were truly performing together. I have long been a fan of Rak Shalom for its oft-ambitious multilingual repertoire choices, sometimes opting beyond even its staple offerings of English and Hebrew. Musically, however, the individual tracks on Cloud Nine are plagued by a lack of a unified sound or idea for reasons that may range from conception to execution. With the finer details failing to come together more often than not, this album does not represent a step forward for the group.

What makes a sound? At its core: pitch, duration, articulation, dynamics, and timbre. What can be challenging is unifying these elements in performance, and thus why a cappella is more than a robotic execution of pitches and rhythms. While Rak Shalom is quite dynamic, energetic, and far from robotic on this release, the approaches to expression often don't match: there were multiple times in listening to Cloud Nine that I was left wondering why the background sounded like it was performing a different song emotionally, dynamically, or stylistically than the soloist in ways that don't support each other or the text. Articulation being sharp or slurred, for example, can make the difference between modes of emotional expression.

The unevenness is perhaps most notable in Lonely, Shir Shel Boker, and Fallin' (Adrenaline). Most notably, Lonely is buoyed by a spectacular solo by Anna Turk Karan, but the rigidity of the arrangement and timing of the power chords don't entirely line up with her journey. The result is numerous impressive facets that don't quite line up. The bouncy, energetic quality of Shir Shel Boker is infectious, however the over-insistence on staccato syllables make it a challenging listen.

There was a great deal of potential for dynamic contrast that could have better served emotional arcs on Nothing Breaks Like a Heart / Shelter and Magiya Li Yoter, the latter of which is otherwise vocally scored very well. The energy serves the group and dynamic movement on individual notes is definitely present overall, but dynamic growth on longer phrases could be more present.

Because of the uneven footing elsewhere, Higher stands out as a complete, unified package that packs an energetic punch. Led by Orrin Berkeley's charismatic solo, the arrangement fully supports the solo with rhythmic staggering and timely percussion hits by Lev Axler, whose soild vp work is featured on the latter half of the album.

Cloud Nine does not move the needle in terms of a cappella excellence, but there is a great deal to appreciate in Rak Shalom's latest release. I look forward to more consistency within individual tracks from the group in the future.

As I listen to this album, I am reminded of a quote I was once told: "Energy hides sins". With Cloud Nine, I constantly find myself struggling to pay attention. I am pulled in for a moment of excellence, and then the music loses that edge that makes it interesting. Across the album, these bright and shining moments are tarnished by the inconsistent energy, resulting in an album that could be incredible but falls short.

G Train starts off the release with a bang. Shua Kanarek and Haley Levin's arrangement is driving and powerful. There are so many colorful cluster-filled chords strewn in across the piece that make the song complex and impossible to ignore. The build in the bridge is unrelenting and powerful. The sudden dynamic change is impactful and acts as a slingshot to propel the group into the final chorus. Rak Shalom is fully aligned in the message it wants to send and delivers it for the full four minutes of the piece.

This precipice is never reached again. Adon Olam highlights a lot of the largest issues. Take a listen to the opening seconds. You can distinctly hear multiple different "oh" vowels. However, on top of that they are sung at different intensities. I often like describing the piano dynamic not as being quiet, but more like a sexy little secret. The audience wants to hear that quiet intensity driving the chord. One of the lower middle voices comes in with a dynamic that sounds bored. It's a color note, one that adds an incredible amount of dissonance to the chord and creates interest. However, it just comes across as sounding wrong until more notes are added and it fades into the soundscape. The energy in these few seconds is incredibly telling. This lack of energy continues throughout the piece. Most of the song is sung at a mezzo dynamic. The group almost sounds bored singing the beginning of this piece. The added impact of this is that the song is sung in a language I can't understand. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this piece. It might be love, it might be courage, it might be a cautionary tale. The energy the group gives singing will shape the audience's perception. Every misstep is also blatantly on display for the audience.

Lonely is the piece that could be either good or bad and highlights how close this group is to being incredible. This arrangement from Shua Kanarek and Yonah Hamermesh plays off silence and uses it very well. Anna Turk Karan's solo is incredibly powerful and puts in the work as the focal point of this piece. The dynamic variance is what makes this piece so powerful. However, the group could do so much more with the dynamics. Every second needs to be incredibly calculated and precise. Every member needs to be perfectly aligned in the energy and spitting out every single consonant. This piece could be so much more with just a little more of every aspect from everyone.

Cloud Nine feels so much closer to a "5" than the ratings tell. The musical framework of the album is fantastic. There are so many moments that are well-written but just barely miss on the execution. Being aligned on the energy the group wants to give and being constantly aware of this would take this group from "good" to "great" virtually overnight. Energy would give so much life to the group sound and make this an album worth listening to over and over again