An a cappella album must have many elements come together in tandem to be spectacular, or even successful. If any of those elements are out of place, they can become a focal point and detract from the lovely ideas and skillsets of a singer, arranger, or group. Unfortunately, Noteworthy suffers from poor studio work, which highlights A Completely Different Note's weaknesses more than its strengths.

Picture this: you are working on an a cappella arrangement on music notation software. That is the strong image invoked for me at the beginning of the album, as the synth is strong within the block chord intro of Sound & Color. That timbre, or tone quality, is present through the majority of the album, representing neither studio effect nor raw vocal sound, presenting a distracting quality and a suboptimal product. The vast majority of the album also features little dynamic contrast, tension/release, or points of arrival at different sections of each song, instead leading to an air of monotony within each track. Not to be mistaken for a chill groove, songs like New Light, Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?, and Japanese Denim suffer from a lack of vocal energy that permeate the album. The aforementioned arrangements would benefit greatly from a more energetic approach, while others such as Standards and Run have stretches where lines feel empty or exposed. In the case of I Wish and On Our Own, the insistence of sharp articulation on the beat and oversimplification of melodic lines take away from the flow.

The most unfortunate part is that these approaches overshadow some great moments and ideas. The intro to New Light is quite special, the second verse of Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me? is very rhythmically and harmonically intelligent, and the arrival of the solo voice in Sound & Color creates a lovely moment in the track. The solo work from John Paul Oei on Movement is thoroughly inspired and the various colors throughout the vocal range are expressed beautifully.

There were moments that left me wondering "why" on this album, such as why the synth is so strong at points, why the choice of momentary silence or balance was represented in a certain place, why that feel change from the original. Any of these "why"s can be justified; they simply weren't in a compelling way. CDN has some great foundations for musical excellence that I hope are expressed more consistently in future releases.

I dig a lot of what A Completely Different Note is aiming for on Noteworthy. The song choice is great — there's a great collection here of rarely covered gems and it's organized with a lot of smart structure across the album. I also enjoy a lot of the arrangements and choices for emulating the original tracks in clever ways — it justifies the adaptation of instrumentation to lack thereof in a really convincing way. And there's a lot of natural personality on this album that sets a strong foundation of identity and intention.

So how does aim translate to end product? Well, the first faltering point is confident conviction to that intention at all time. There are too many points in the album where the group almost sounds scared of what they're singing. The intros of both Sound & Color and Standards, for example, have exposed background vocal lines that are trembling or singing half-formed nasal vowels that undermine listener confidence in much of the rest of the track. There are solos that have this aspect as well, but it's most debilitating when the backing crumbles from it.

Tracks like New Light, I Wish, and Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me? are somewhat better about alleviating this issue. This allows me as a listener to focus on just how much I enjoy the tracks' presence themselves, rather than subconsciously fear if the singers will even make it through to the end! I also enjoy a lot of the effortless arranging choices on New Light that add layer to the relatively unassuming original, without detracting from the latter's chill vibe.

Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?, however, is plagued by plodding and darkened weight in the core sound, which is another recurring issue on the album. Some of that comes to the arrangement choices — this track seems to include a lot of overbalanced, low-voiced triads. These create a darker, heavier tone that distracts from the intended bouncy and cheery nature of the song itself. Other tracks, such as Standards and Japanese Denim, have a lot of moments where either soloists or backing vocals are singing darkened, covered vowels that almost sound stuck in the back of the throat. From a technical perspective, these vowels are warm and full but require a brighter support that brings out their natural resonance and stops them from being weighty.

Soloists are a mixed bag as well. Sometimes, they are beautiful and tender, which is a good thing. Most of the time, however, that tenderness turns into fragility, which brings awareness to potential lack of breath support behind the mic. Sometimes a beautiful core sound, even full of support, is belied by falsetto moments that fall out of that beauty box. Perhaps my favorite soloist is Max Moore on Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?, who delivers the lead both elegantly and securely and with hardly a dropped phrase or run. Incredible consistency goes a long way!

On Our Own ends the album in a way that satisfies a lot of the things I'm looking for more of from A Completely Different Note. It does occasionally run into the issues I mentioned above, but it's also got a beautifully tender yet stable core sound alongside a great song choice. My main issue is that it sounds like an abridged edit — I want more of it, and yet it cuts short before where it's supposed to leave me wanting more.

As usual, it is important to mention good liner notes etiquette. Crediting the original performing artist is fine, but not necessary. Crediting the original songwriters, on the other hand, is necessary. This does not affect score, but it is vital nonetheless.

A Completely Different Note's Noteworthy is an enjoyable listen that demonstrates a lot of potential and a near effortless sense of song and musical identity. The next step is to back that up with confidence and convincing sound. That comes first and foremost with a rich, consistent, and supported delivery. The product is good — now the audience needs to have full assurance and comfort in that product.

University of Connecticut's A Completely Different Note serves up ten tracks for its new album Noteworthy, many of which are not the typical a cappella fare. However, the performance of these songs could use some work.

Let's start with the good. There's some talented soloists in the group. Alex Domingo has the swagger and scatting chops to pull off Standards. Max Moore makes us swoon on Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me? and brings in some of Clyde Lawrence's raspy vocal tone without it being an exact copy. Cooper Clark cooks on the final minute of Japanese Denim with impressive melismas and navigating the different registers and timbres of their voice. And Raghav Srivastava and Colin Hong each showcase emotional vulnerability for the closer, On Our Own.

Another bright spot is Max Moore on vp, especially on three of the first four tracks of the album. In terms of production, Liquid 5th does a good job of making sure the singers are heard, although the vp is a bit too present in the mix on some of the tracks, notably Sound & Color and Run.

What would take this group and these tracks to the next level is more attention to musicality and the details, particularly blend and energy. First is to work on uniting the blend for the outer voices — the bright, floaty high tenors and the dark, heavy low basses — with everyone else. The beginning of Movement is closest to the ideal, but the bass still sticks out too much.

Second is to bump up the energy level way up on every chart: commit emotionally and energetically when singing every note of every song. Even the upbeat numbers drag. Slow numbers like Run and the beginning of Sound & Color also need to have that energy and forward motion. Though I'm not sure why Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem opens Standards (was this a reference to the NYU N'Harmonics' ICCA set from 2019?), if it had been done with more conviction and less hesitation, then I wouldn't have questioned the creative choice as much.

Several of my critiques on musicality change are track-specific. I can't hear the consonants on Sound & Color, Brooklyn in the Summer, and I Wish. Sing through long notes on New Light and Run, which will help to create more dynamic contrast. Make sure the vowels are matching across the group on Brooklyn in the Summer, New Light, and On Our Own. The final minute of On Our Own rushes rather than settling and letting the chords breathe. And the group overall needs to chew more on the vocables during the interlude of Do You Wanna Do Nothing with Me? to try to sound more like instruments (though that track overall has the most energy of any on Noteworthy).

With some stand-out individual performers and interesting song selection, A Completely Different Note has a solid base on which to build its group sound and develop a musicality to match.