Deciding that re-recording one single in different musical veins doth not a career make, MySpace favorites OneRepublic caved in and finally released an entire album last month(Awwww, does that mean no bluegrass remix to "Apologize"?). Pitching them as The Fray with cooler industry friends (even Lil' Wayne jumped on one of the thousands of versions of "Apologize" dropped this past year), Dreaming Out Loud arrives as a decent, though not all that exciting, collection of songs.

On album opener "Say (All I Need)", the band mirror the ambient hip hop crunch, piano-based pop/ rock melodicism and penetrating wails that worked so well on "Apologize". Frontman/ songwriter/ producer Ryan Tedder rides the ascending epic strains of the rumbling drums and heavy chord waves with a sensitive falsetto that firmly positions this in U2 territory with lyrics vague enough to connect with most anyone ("Well bless my soul/ You're a lonely soul/ Cause you won't let go/ Of anything you hold").

While it's forgettable once it fades out, "Say (All I Need)" is still soundly constructed professional pop that could easily forge a minor radio hit for the band. All that's missing is another dose of Timbaland's voodoo-y "Say It Right" chant work (because the masses can't seem to get enough of it), and OneRepublic could have another #1 single on their hands. Ho-hum. "Apologize" with banjos would have been a far more interesting follow-up.



DL: "Say (All I Need)" (YFH)