The modern music industry is one massive ever-growing body, filled with a nonstop barrage of new artists. Ray Goren is one such artist, who, despite his young age of 15, has already produced three albums, two of which, LA Sessions and Save My Soul, were written by Goren himself. Furthermore Goren is a multi-instrumental artist, and is assisted by music production experts from the ‘70s to ‘90s, such as Leon Russell, Robby Krieger, and Buddy Guy.

Yet despite all this, Goren’s latest album, Songs for You, is a disappointment. It comes so close to being something unique yet it fails. To analyze a song, I ask myself three questions: Is this a song I’d listen to when driving down a road in a car? Is this a song I would (attempt) to dance to? And is this a song that generates some emotion in me? If the answer is yes to any of those questions then I can say, without a shred of shame, that I like the music.

After listening to the five songs in Goren’s new album, I am disappointed to say not one of the five songs gave me a yes to any of the three questions. Goren’s music comes off as a mixture of rhythmic dance music and slow pop love songs. The problem with this formula is that the songs end up being neither fast enough to dance to, nor slow enough to relax under.

Ultimately, none of the songs stands out in any way. Songs like “Those Days” and “Light My Fire” all end up being a blur of guitars and melancholy love songs. It seems that Goren attempts to mix the vocals of slow, romantic themed artists, like Taylor Swift, with quick guitar play. Yet the two styles fail to mix.
On the bright side, Goren is able to reach the musical abilities of many of the modern, adult artists at the mere age of 15. Perhaps in future years, as Goren’s music evolves and he grows into a niche that is his own, he will be able to develop fantastic music. Until then, the best assessment I can give to his new album based on my three-question system, is 3 out of 5. As in I recommend it to only those who are looking for some really unique type of music.