Friday marked the release of electronic R&B duo Majid Jordan’s album “The Space Between.” Lead singer Majid Al Maskati and producer Jordan Ultman see their sophomore follow up to their self titled 2016 LP “Majid Jordan.”

The album kicks off with its most upbeat tracks, first being “Gave Your Love Away.” Ultman’s production features a chord progression that Majid Jordan fans are familiar with – dream-like and relaxing. It also has a simple drum pattern that serves as a solid platform to pair with the chords. Maskati’s vocals aren’t the strongest and often come off limited, but don’t hinder the catchiness of the chorus or overall vibe of the song. 

“Gave Your Love Away” leads into the second track, “OG Heartthrob.” The instrumental is similar to song before it. The chords differ from “Gave Your Love Away”, but the drum pattern is almost exactly the same. The track is notable for the 80’s vibe that it pairs with catchy lyrics. “Original heartthrob, giving me heart problems, I can’t take making love to anyone but you” is reminiscent of late 80’s boy band lyrics but are not as cheesy and surprisingly come off as one of the catchiest tracks on “The Space Between.”

The 12 track album receives some help from Ovo label mate vocalist PARTYNEXTDOOR on the featured single “One I Want.” PND’s feature serves as a good vocal palette cleanser and his verse doesn’t seem to overshadow Maskati’s later on in the song. The instrumentals are slow and more stripped down compared to their previous album.

R&B and label-mate duo Dvsn are featured on the track “My Imagination.” Seeing Dvsn featured on this album was a surprise and initially made fans excited, unfortunately the collaboration sounds better on paper. This collaboration was not so disappointing on the production end of things but more so on the vocal end. The production is upbeat with intriguing chords, while light blooming synth runs are made throughout this song that effectively add a fair amount of detail and depth to the instrumental.

Daniel Daley, lead singer of Dvsn is much more vocally capable than Majid and it shows on this track. Although Daley overshadows Maskati on his own track, the real problem lies in the chorus. “You remind me of a pretty girl, you remind me of a pretty girl, who broke my heart” sounds too unwieldy, rushed and awkward.

Overall “The Space Between” shows improvement in many areas, production being the biggest. Ultman’s instrumentals show growth in the span of just one year from their first LP. It’s not much of a difference because a number of their songs contain nods to 80’s R&B and house music. Compared to their previous album, the songwriting doesn’t show too much of a difference, and neither do the vocals. Majid Jordan knows what works for them and stuck to the playbook with their sophomore release, but it’s not a slump. “The Space Between” is a sophomore success, with much more room to grow.

You can stream “The Space Between” now on Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud. You will also have to opportunity to catch them on “The Space Between – A World Tour” this February at The Warfield in San Francisco.