Stuffed to the brim with indistinguishable drops and meaningless lyrics, the Chainsmokers’ debut album fails to meet expectations set by their previous hit singles.

The Chainsmokers, DJ/producer duo Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, first caught my attention last year when their hit ‘Roses’ from their debut EP “Bouquet” shot to number six on the Billboard Hot 100. With immaculate production and stunning vocals, “Roses’” played on radio stations around the country for weeks. Following “Roses’” success, “Don’t Let Me Fall (feat. Daya),” was a second major hit for the Chainsmokers.

Their most successful song, “Closer (feat. Halsey),” hit number one on the Billboard 100 last fall and was one of the biggest and most inescapable songs of 2016. With three hits under their belt, the Chainsmokers set high expectations for their debut album.

The Chainsmokers’ debut, “Memories… Do Not Open,” doesn’t include their three previous hits. Instead, it features twelve bland songs coated in high-quality production.

Approximately half of the tracks feature just Taggart’s voice, while the others either feature a mix of Taggart and other artists or other artists entirely. This is because the Chainsmokers are a DJ/production group – their primary focus is music production, not vocals.

Buried within the album’s forgettable tracks, “The One” and “Break Up Every Night” are the clear standouts. “The One’s” introspective lyrics reflect on Taggart’s life as a celebrity and his changed interactions with those close to him. The song is beautifully produced, starting as a light ballad that breaks into mellow EDM (electronic dance music) backed by vocoder vocals.

“Break Up Every Night,” the most high-energy and unique song on the album, sounds like a modern “Neon Trees” song backed by electrifying production. With its surging energy, there’s no doubt that this song has potential for commercial success.

Unfortunately, most of the album suffers from unoriginality and indistinguishability. A notably strange production choice is on “Something Just Like This (feat. Coldplay),” in which the bass drop is near-identical to that of their previous hit “Roses.”

In a sense, this strange occurrence represents much of the album. The Chainsmokers’ appear to have written themselves in circles. Following the monstrous success of their previous singles, the duo relies too heavily on their old tricks to create new songs, and it shows.

This isn’t to say that the album won’t have success; “Paris” and “Something Just Like This,” its first two singles, have been fairly popular this year. Though I never found those songs intriguing, I had higher expectations for what the album might sound like based on their previous work, and was ultimately disappointed.

“Memories… Do Not Open” is not worth checking out. Its singles will undoubtedly have commercial success, but following the popularity of their singles from 2016, the Chainsmokers seem to have lost their sense of originality in favor of commercial success.

For those still interested in listening to the album, “Memories… Do Not Open” is currently available on iTunes for purchase and on Spotify and Apple Music for streaming.
“Memories… Do Not Open”: 1/5