Fans Are Saying Drew Taggart Sings Too Much On The New Chainsmokers Album
The Chainsmokers have been a force to reckon with for the past couple of years. The duo had been dominating radio airwaves, the charts, and dance music festivals. On April 7th, The Chainsmokers finally released their first full-length album, “Memories…Do Not Open.”
The Chainsmokers seemed to have broken into mainstream pop with their “pop-drop” style of music. “Pop-drop” is often referred to as the technique that takes elements from hip-hop, electronic music, and the chorus hooks of pop music. Drew Taggart and Alex Pall built the duo’s name on drop-heavy club records, so a full-length record leaning this hard into vocal hooks and songwriting was a real shift in direction.
Even though fans around the world were praising The Chainsmokers’ debut album, plenty of critics had thoughts on the duo’s vocal-heavy direction.
“Drew really needs to stop singing,” said one Reddit user, while another said, “Break Up Every Night is so bad.”
Despite the criticism from some fans and blogs, The Chainsmokers received mostly positive reviews overall.
Your voice makes me good to the soul @drewtaggart #MDNO
— n e m o (@littledrewx) April 7, 2017
What’s your thoughts on the album so far?
Thoughts on #TheChainsmokers #MemoriesDoNotOpen ?https://t.co/oh0JEQLIye
— EDM Sauce (@EDMsauce) April 7, 2017
Drew Taggart singing lead on so many tracks was always going to be a talking point — “Memories…Do Not Open” leaned way more on his vocals than the duo’s earlier EDM-radio singles like “#SELFIE” or “Roses” had. Some fans wanted more of the production-forward, drop-heavy sound they came up on; others thought the pivot toward a full pop-vocal record showed real range and songwriting chops most producer-duos never bother developing.
Either way, the criticism didn’t slow the duo down much. The album still debuted strong commercially, and songs like “Paris” and “Something Just Like This” (their collab with Coldplay) kept climbing the charts in the months that followed. The Chainsmokers went on to lean even further into that vocal-forward, pop-radio lane on later releases, for better or worse depending on who you ask.
Love it or hate it, Drew singing became part of the group’s identity going forward, not a phase they walked back. Looking back, “Memories…Do Not Open” was really the turning point where The Chainsmokers stopped being “just” a dance duo with a viral hit and started being treated like a full-blown pop act with a real discography behind them.
