The Lost Keys keeps a jazz-funk identity on 11th & Waverly, with some exquisite gospel stylings popping through, too. The leads on this release are absolutely ridiculous. Like, call all the theater managers, call all the recording agents, these voices are bananas and could headline anything.

Based on my genre descriptions above, you may be surprised to learn The Lost Keys open with Sweet Child o' Mine from Guns and Roses. (I'm still surprised writing this.) It's a swingy delight, and when the first verse drops, it's pure elation with perfect intonation.

You'll need to pat down your goosebumps from Jenny Baik singing Evergreen. It's fine if you've heard a lot of arrangements of this piece; it's unacceptable if you don't listen to Baik's take on the matter. It's a full living room concerto that reverberates in your bones.

A little bit of fun now. Under the vision of The Lost Keys, Bad Guy is the sizzling a cappella nightclub version of this radio hit, and very addictive. Talk It Up loses the funk edge so ably performed in the opening trio of pieces, but still delivers high-energy fun.

And then, a decided change in musical direction. Happier Than Ever is suddenly somber with beautiful choral singing before a huge transition halfway through re-grounds us, now with empowerment and strength. Think About Things sounds wild, nearly feral — is there a splash of throat singing in the opening? The Lost Keys are certainly not afraid to try something new.

Lastly, I have complicated, mixed feelings regarding the live version of Can't Help Falling in Love. Hearing the group so intimately is a nice bonus, even if the tuning goes a little sideways, but the arrangement is curious and sometimes hard to listen to. The chart gets pretty heavy-handed, and perhaps a little too clever for its own good. The impact live is assuredly different than the impact of this particular recording we get to replay.

But most definitely, hit "Play" on these incredibly skilled vocalists! I'd take a solo album from any of them.

Between soloistic commitment and arrangement ingenuity, the tangible talents of The Lost Keys are on full display throughout the group's latest release, 11th & Waverly.

Beginning with Sweet Child o' Mine, it is clear that the group is endeavoring to leave a unique mark. The rhythm section hides the background voice bareness and creates the exact tapestry needed to support a feel-good solo rendition. As the song continues, background voices are not only stacked well but also display a lovely melodic quality. One of the stars of the show is the arrangement itself, as is the case later in Talk It Up and Happier Than Ever, each featuring stunning sections that feel almost like compositions more than portions of an arrangement. Chord substitutions that enhance moments such as in Bad Guy and Talk It Up are duly welcome, adding to the care put into the conceptualization and innovation features in these covers. Reverb is far from heavy-handed, providing a generally natural sound quality, with tasteful exceptions such as the bass distortion effects in Bad Guy. And despite a seven-song EP featuring two Billie Eilish covers, the interpretation is significantly varied and does not create any kind of monotony.

Solo interpretation is to be lauded throughout the album, as the clarity of the performers comes through consistently, perhaps even more than their obvious vocal athleticism and deft skill. That said, the performances of Peter Lam, Jamie Serkin, and Stephanie Chan on Happier Than Ever are nothing short of a masterclass in emoting through studio singing, as their intensity and enthusiasm are palpable.

The EP does lose steam, as the bar for innovation was set high and is not aptly met by the simplistic club tune that is Think About Things. Finishing the album with a live track can be delightful, as there is nothing quite like capturing the magic of a live performance, but the tuning in both pitch and vowel matching is so far off the mark that it distracts from the other facets of the performance, making it difficult to hold any sense of continuity with a pitch-corrected, perfectly-tuned studio recording.

There are so many reasons to check out 11th & Waverly, especially to marvel at the multifaceted talents of The Lost Keys.

As reviewers, we have elements we love to hear from a cappella groups. Three of mine are innovative covers, jaw-dropping soloists, and exquisite musicality. If these traits sound like your a cappella cup of tea too, then have The Lost Keys got an EP for you with their latest recording, 11th & Waverly.

Creating seven distinctive covers of well-known songs, both within a cappella and in general, is no easy feat and I admire the group for taking so many risks. Several of them pay off handsomely: Sweet Child o' Mine, Evergreen, Talk It Up, and Happier Than Ever — all four arranged by Keiji Ishiguri and two revised by director Nathaniel Granor — absolutely zing as arrangements and as performances. You can tell these are in-house arrangers who know their group members well. For example, the arc of Talk It Up shifts every few phrases to give soloist Rachel Goodman many opportunities to play.

Each of these tracks features exceptional soloists who find the nuances of each song and SING. the. house. down. boots! Jenny Baik on Evergreen, in particular, eats and leaves no crumbs with her ridiculous tessitura and exceptional musical choices. (Can you tell I wrote this review during Pride Month?) Derek Bado showcases range for days on the anthemic Sweet Child o' Mine. And I will probably never get over the hauntingly gorgeous trio of Peter Lam, Jamie Serkin, and Stephanie Chan making me feel so many emotions in four-and-a-half minutes on the melancholy Happier Than Ever.

In contrast, though creative and well-sung, the other three tracks have some significant issues. Bad Guy suffers from two stylistic choices that work against each other: the overdrive and other "electronic" sounds pull me out of the a cappella suspension of disbelief while the background vocals feel too choral in conception. Meanwhile, in Think About Things, the bass and vp don't synch their groove. At times, they seem to disagree on where the downbeat is and their rhythms don't quite complement each other.

I want to like the live recording of Can't Help Falling in Love; however, the mismatched vowels and timbres, and resultant misaligned tuning, bothers me too much, particularly on exposed moments with just two or three singers. Pulling off a jazzy, homophonic, Hide and Seek-esque arrangement is tough, especially live, and the microphones were unforgiving in how much they captured. Listening to this one track, though, illuminates how beautiful the blend and tuning are on the other six. And the whole EP, including the live track, showcases how the ensemble pays attention to dynamics and phrasing in sophisticated ways.

The Lost Keys may not have pitched a perfect game with 11 & Waverly (please excuse the sports analogy). But the group certainly hit quite a few homers along the way to an overall winning EP.