Choice Cut : "I'm Yours," "Rusty Halo," "The End Where I Begin"

Official website: http://www.thescriptmusic.com/gb/home/

If you have not heard of The Script, shame on you! This soul trio hailing from Dublin has been making waves lately with their hit singles "We Cry" and "The Man Who Can't Be Moved." Comprising of former boybanders (anybody remember MyTown?) Mark Sheehan and Danny O'Donoghue, and session musician, Glen Power, this threesome is backed by a solid era of substantial production work and writing, for R&B production moguls like Pharrell Williams (The Neptunes) and Teddy Riley (Blackstreet), before coming together as The Script.

Let's start with the merits. O'Donoghue's vocals are a pleasurably unique aural experience. It is rough without being raspy, and smooth without being silky. When that meets Sheehan's tangy guitar commentaries and Power's funky percussion, the end result is a compelling soul/R&B/pop-rock effort. Simple melodies are married to relatable lyrics, and this guarantees that track after track is a surefire, radio-friendly hit. Demonstrating the influence of their R&B production days, you'll also find some semi-rapped vocals, surprisingly articulate and suited to the rap style, and groovy drumworks. This all contributes to a rhythmic pop melodiousness, with some anthemic rock appeal.

Alas, The Script also goes for 'safe' in their debut effort, and doesn't vary their formula much. An interesting exception would be "Rusty Halo," an uptempo (a first in the entire work), rock number that'll leave you bouncing to the beat. Other than that, the album plays across a flat plane, with no big leaps, but no huge letdowns either. Some might even go so far as to call it bland. The lyrics are somewhat trite, with a moody, melancholic strain throughout, undeniably heartfelt, which perhaps helps it along in the soul factor. Many of the songs bear a tired, repeated theme: love lost ("If You See Kay," "Break Even") or love enduring ("The Man Who Can't Be Moved," "Talk You Down," "Before The Worst").

Debut single "We Cry" is a commendable effort at a social commentary, with a deep, piteous yearning. But that said, it's not covering new ground lyrics-wise. "Fall For Anything" sounds like it came right out of a Maroon 5 album, vocals and all. The album closes with "I'm Yours," a sappy-but-not-sacharrine ballad, which proves a fitting finale with its sweet and dreamily haunting guitar strains. Kudos for that!

All in all, this is still a Script worth listening to. For a while, at least.