5 to Care About

Blu Sanders' 5 to Care About EP is a tasteful collection of singer/songwriter-y tunes, his emotive vocals and plaintive acoustic strum dressed in watery synthesizers, subtle programming, and plenty of reverb. There's plenty of first person here, and Sanders tends to lay the lovey-dovey on pretty thick. But even though "Promise"'s "never let you go" couplet is impossibly clichéd (and the song's drippiness puts it about two teardrops from Lite FM), Sanders has enough charisma to sell it. "It's been so long since I've been missin' someone," he sings, and even if that's not very original either, everyone has been there. It's this universality that makes 5 to Care so enjoyable — like Duncan Sheik or Josh Kelley or any of the hundreds of heartfelt dudes with inviting voices and a six-string, Sanders says what we all feel with more melody and meaning than our puny brains ever could. He does overdo the programming a bit here and there, especially on "All into You." But in a hangover sunset he'll sing what you need to hear, and then you'll watch Say Anything for the hundredth time.