Ayler Young‘s Back in the City is an ode to New York. Young was born 30-years-ago in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, but now he’s got a new place to call home. In Back in the City, Young sings about homesickness, desires, and distractions.

Like the popular Johns of today, John Mayer and John Legend, Young mixes rock, pop, and R&B. There’s a wide variety of instruments used, from jazz pianos to acoustic guitars to drums. Backing Young are bassist Darryl Jones of the Rolling Stones and drummer Charley Dayton. There’s a mature sound to the instrumental component of Back in the City. For example, “Brand New Girl” includes a saxophone solo, and a lot of cymbals.

Back in the City is funky jazz, for sure, but I can’t help comparing it to the sound of a band playing at a wedding reception. Although Young’s voice would be a perfect fit for American Idol, in the real world, it’s not memorable enough — yet. There are so many singer-songwriters today who play gigs all over New York. Young needs more songs like “Dream Girl Rack 05″ and “Tripping Out DJ Logic” to really stand out; those two are a great example of great urban soul rock.

Young has a great male voice and a mature back-up, but there should have been a restriction on the number of instruments used. For goodness sake, it’s not psychedelic rock.

Rating: 6.5/10

Back in the City was released on January 2010. You can purchase the entire album via iTunes.

Tracklist:

1. The Beast
2. Back In The City
3. Sweet One
4. One Man Show
5. Dream Girl
6. Tripping Out Feat. DJ Logic
7. Adios
8. Second Best
9. Brand New Girl Feat. Charisse
10. The Stoop
11. Precious Eyes
12. Porcelain Heart