“Yep.” She nodded. “We waited. I didn’t want that to get in the way of the album.”
“Mm.” I nodded. “Good?”
“Oh yeah.” She smiled. “Oh, very yeah.” Glancing down the hall, she sighed. “He has the nicest ass.”
“You have befouled my couch.”
“Oh, you have no idea.” Hailey laughed.
“Thank God for cleaning services.”
“What time do you have to be at the theater?” Angela asked.
“Four, for warmups. They said they’re going to have a craft services table, too, so dinner. Only because it’s my first opening night.”
Luis came running down the hall in his boxers, laughing and waving his tablet. “Did you see? Did you see all of it?”
“See what?” Rand asked, scratching his ass as he walked out of the bedroom.
“The reviews. They’re all out,” Luis said, and slid the device across the breakfast bar. “The albumandyour show!”
“Shit,” I said, grabbing the tablet.
Uriah came tearing out of the bedroom in his boxers, sliding up to the counter. Hell. That was a pretty look on him.
“Which one first?”
“Album,” Hailey, Bryce, Angela, Uriah, and Luis said.
I tapped on the tab with the story from Rolling Stone. Taking a deep breath, I started reading out loud.
“Up Down Left Right: Edge. The Reinvention of a Former Boy Band.
“Up Down Left Right has left what was down about their supergroup to the past and moved up with what’s right.”
Someone groaned. I didn’t disagree, but I did keep reading.
“When ULDR exploded on the pop music scene eight years ago with their first hit, Gotta Get Me, most of the music world was convinced that they were a one album wonder. But coming back with their second album and the amazing ballad Sweet, Sweet, and five more chart topping albums got everyone thinking there was something about them that meant the boy band was meant to a be a real band.
“The word escaped four months ago that they had fired their producer and the whole album was starting over. Some thought that it was the end of ULDR and nothing was going to come out of the studio. Even with the amazing Hailey Demarest behind the board, there was talk of failure.
“It would be a good idea to discover who started those rumors and make sure they never speak about ULDR again.
“At the world premiere listening party in New York City, there wasn’t a note of failure. Everything about the new album, the new song, hell, even the new group, spoke to the evolution that we’ve been waiting for from these five men.
“The liner notes ofEdgetake us down a road of the discovery they have been searching for. It is a testament to the friendship that they have formed through their previous albums and three massive world tours. It is a amazing tribute to the skills they have learned in music.
“Grant Kingston, the bassist has the requisite two songs each member is allowed. His heavy Bob Marley influence his clearly heard in both songs, but he has managed to blend it into the unique stylings of the songs from the others.
“Luis Cervantes goes all out on his two songs, with a spicy, delicious Latin flair that also has touches of his Spanish roots and folk music. The guitar riffs he requests from Taylor Dawkins are not only stunning and sweeping, but masterfully carried off.
“Dawkins, for his contribution went hardcore classic rock, with the taste of Beatles, Rolling Stones, and oddly—but not out of place—Led Zepplin. The lyrics are something that a future generation will study for years for their literature classes.
“Bryce Boudin can play piano. That man canreallyplay piano. This reviewer would sit in Radio City to hear his magic withMoonlight Sonata, and anything else he cared to tease us aurally with. His songs are love and longing for the ages.
“And Austin Lowell has finally, finally unleashed his voice on the world. With hints of how he might really sound on other albums, other songs, this offering lets him off whatever chain he was on. His songs are soaring triumphs, that instead of diminishing his bandmates works, lifts them up to the same amazing stratospheric heights.
“If this is what they do in four months, it will be exciting to see what they can do with the proper amount of time.
