EP Review: Cody Simpson – The Acoustic Sessions
2 min read
For someone who’s been in the public consciousness since 2010 or so, Cody Simpson is still astonishingly young. The 16 year old already has two albums, and is now on his fourth extended play, The Acoustic Sessions.
The opener, a laid-back version of Pretty Brown Eyes (the lead single off 2013’s Surfers Paradise) brings a summery beach vibe that is reminiscent of Jack Johnson.
All Day is very Jason Mraz, who was an influence on Simpson as he did a cover of I’m Yours on YouTube.
The catchy nonsense on La Da Dee is supported by some nice, gentle harmonies. Its choruses rise and would sound great during a windy, sunny joyride.
Wish You Were Here still has the awkward rap from the original. Fortunately, its hook sounds great in evoking recent euphoric ‘oh-oh’ hooks from bands like The Lumineers and fun.
Please Come Home For Christmas signals the fact that this EP is a year-end release, but is an uncontrived, decent cover of a Christmas classic.
The main gripe I have with this EP is that there’s a bit of autotune, which is totally unnecessary considering the nature of this record. Despite this, Simpson can obviously sing as he has a very natural voice. It is therefore very clear that the only reason why Simpson is compared to Justin Bieber is because they both happen to be teen idols (not to mention Simpson is supporting Bieber on his Believe Tour)
The Acoustic Sessions is overall a pleasant effort from Simpson, who sounds totally at home in this chilled-out, acoustic-guitar driven production. It’s almost like he’s back at home on the Gold Coast.
