Photo by: Last.fm

Released last week, Minus the Bear’s Omni provides listeners with simple, escapist realities and effortless narratives through a minimalistic approach.

Beginning with the single “My Time,” Minus the Bear introduces a synthesized and exaggerated percussion rhythm reverberating as an echo before returning to an upbeat keyboard melody paired with not-quite-cutesy verses, such as “I got your night/I got your days/I got you on my time.” The lyrics of “My Time” are catchy, but they fall short of showing genuine sentiment.

Other songs, like “Summer Angel,” bring out the sensation of summer with descriptions of flings and sunny weather. Lyrics like “Her shadow in the moonlight/The hot summer night’s right/My summer angel keeps me on the run” can make you feel like you’re on the beach. The bass solo for this track is simple and effective stringing into an elaborate guitar solo imposing a recognition of mood music with flowing melodies.

Despite the smooth tracks, the lyricism maintains a corny love-struck appeal without providing any deep thought beyond adjectives. Every song creates a story through illustrations, as in lyrics from “Secret Country,” “Soft rain falls around us/And the moon says it’s getting late/Arm in arm, step in time/We come to the edge of the lake.” The lack of metaphors, abstract ideas and depth provide only superficial music.

The album relies on the cornerstone of keyboard rhythms and the effects used to manipulate them, like “In The Mirror,” for example, which begins with a series of quick keyboard notes before dropping to silence after a few seconds, leaving you to wonder if there’s something wrong with the recording.

If you’re going for simple, chill music to relax to, Omni might hit the spot. However, it might serve better in the background.