Josiah Leming - Angels Undercover EP

I really wanted to like Josiah Leming's EP, "Angels Undercover". I remember feeling he was robbed of a rightful spot in the American Idol top 24 last season. I thought, "this kid's got talent, he'll get far". My mother and I were rooting for him and yet he didn't make the final cut. Rightly so, it appeared. He went on stage at the final day of Hollywood, dismissed the band and delivered a painful vocal performance (I just watched it again, it really was bad).
On his debut EP, a preview to the album he's been working on, Josiah showcases the same painful vocal performance. He sounds like a spoilt little brat, self-indulgent and whiny. Simon told him his disastrous performance was "down to over-confidence" and this is exactly what this EP sounds like - unjustified over-confidence.
The tracks have no complexity of arrangement. They all follow the same line of plain piano melodies, ballady in nature, with lyrics that hide behind bombastic words that don't say anything.
The title track "Angels Undercover" tells Josiah's story of his loss of belief. In childish terms he describes faith as "believing in heaven" and the lack of faith as "a place that’s filled with flames" (hell, naturally). Josiah lashes out for all the injustices in the world. His father having to work hard for a pitiful salary, and his mother "resting her bones" as he pleads an invisible force to not "deny her what she owns". He then claims proudly that he does not believe in heaven, and that the "place that's filled with flames" is "calling out his names" (all the while making the distinction between good and bad by saying laughter goes out to heaven while the sorrow goes to hell). Those undercover angels, it seemed, cursed out his and his dear brother's names for no good reason. Josiah gives an impression he's unrighlty prosecuted. This is all coming from a guy that left home and lived in a car because he decided he didn't fancy school anymore and would not stay at home with his mum's disapproval. Hmmm yeah...
"Theysay", for some odd reason, is spelt as one word instead of two. You will find no explanation to that in the song itself that is light on lyrics but long on the same boring instrumental. The motif of hell and burning there repeats itself as Josiah attempts to stick it to the man and tell everyone to go to hell. Nice.
"This Cigar" is about where Josiah lost my patience. With cheesy lines ("this cigar, burns a hole straight through my jeans and through your heart"), Josiah makes this his "coming of age" song. He declares "I'm a man now / I can drive a car" (yes, you know, you've been living in one) "I'm a drop out / I'm nobody so far" (we've known that too) "but I don't mess with cigarettes or alcohol Cause I'm the best there is and they tell me all the winners smoke cigars" (more of your arrogant display of mediocre lyrics).
In "To Run" Josiah tells the tale of a relationship with a girl to whom he promised the world but did not fullfill. Once again Josiah is cowering behind words that mean nothing while admitting his own lack of brains. "Oh I thought I was so clever, never knew that our line would sever". Couldn't agree more and hey, no word about the rather lame rhyming there, okay? The girl ends up leaving him (well, what did you expect?) and while he struggles to weave a time-motif into the song, it ends on a bum note at around the 2:35 mark, leaving us with more than a minute of silence followed by something that sounds like a hymn for those angels undercover that curse him in the first song, and closing up the EP.
"Arctic Outcry Wind", the opening track of the EP is the sole redemption for this album. A new form of melody is heard (you can hear a drum-beat!), alien to the repeatative piano gloom of the previous 4 tracks. This is the sole decent song on the EP and shines with lyrics that show some level of sophistication and dare I say maturity. Josiah describes, in a vast arrary of words, the cluster that is his mind and his emotions. He paints a picture of confusion and frustration through a rather nice imagery. He keeps his verses at level by repeating the same structure, keeping the song in check and from smashing to tiny pieces flying at all directions and has an actual form of a chorus (something that distinctly lacks in the other tracks on this EP).

If Josiah was a smart kid, he'd lead his album in the footsteps of "Arctic Outcry Wind". Given his past record on Idol, however, having made some dodgy decisions there (singing without the band for example), as well as his decision to later spit into the well from which he drank in the form of trash-talking Idol (he'd still be living in his car playing gigs to a handful of people if it weren't for the exposure Idol has given him), I rather doubt Josiah IS a smart kid. After all, 80% of his EP sound like one never-ending song that is not very good... Here's to hoping this EP has been a learning curve for him or that he would otherwise find an audience that is willing to put up with his self-indulgent crap.