Album Review: Trey Songz - "Trey Day"

On his second album, Trey Day, Trey Songz exhibits short bursts of singing talent that make you want to invest the time listening to him sing, but ultimately those short bursts aren't enough to carry a full album. This album is calculated, 'ringtone R&B;' it's full of catchphrases, forgettable lyrics, trendy production and beats that are catchy but ultimately empty, disposable and bound to be forgotten within weeks. In a way, Trey Day lives up to its name, because it's here today. But tomorrow is bound to be a different story entirely.

Trey Songz' second album, Trey Day, has more than its share of pluses and minues, with one of the big pluses being the Johnta Austin-written song "Can't Help But Wait," on which Trey's considerable vocal ability shines. On the song, a conflicted Trey sings about the inner turmoil of wanting a woman who already has a man - a man who doesn't treat her right. The song has a nice balance of sensitivity and swagger and is on of the few songs on which Trey's thin voice is utilized to its full potential.

Another winner is the R. Kelly-produced and co-written "Grub On," in which a restaurant and food are used as metaphors for sex. The song is great, however, not because of Trey, but because of Kellz's production and writing. Trey just happens to be the guy singing - and singing with a style that makes him sound like a mini-R. Kelly at that. Singing style is one thing that plagues the album as a whole; Trey has a fairly non-distinctive vocal style. It's obvious that he can sing, but he just doesn't have the type of magnetic, compelling personality that helped make singers like R. Kelly and Usher superstars.

It's this blandness that ultimately makes potentially hot songs like "Store Run," (about an emergency run to get condoms) and "Wonder Woman" unsatisfying. There's a serious lack of emotion and feeling on Trey Day; he never really manages to convey that he's genuine or sincere, instead it seems like he's just saying what he thinks you want to here. But on the bright side, there's a lot of good snippets, if you're looking for additions to your mobile phone's ringtone collection.