Dubblé Amount’s Achilles Heel is, at times, a truly enjoyable compilation of compositions and, at others, a mess of mediocrity with half-hearted lyrics forced into uncomfortable places.
Take, for example, the opening track “Michelangelo.” Now I’m not sure if the title is a reference to the Italian Renaissance painter or his fictional, shelled, crime-fighting namesake but either the way the song’s fatalistic go-with-the-flow message gets stuck somewhere between optimistic and sardonic, weak attempts at rapped verses mixed with experimental melodies in all the wrong places stultifying the track.
Further down the line, “Sunset Avenue” falls into the same trap of lyrical apathy. The opening line “Driving through Sunset Avenue/and everybody’s catching some waves” makes this seem like a mid-life crisis, dad-band project rather than a serious attempt at music-making which is a shame considering the music around the lyrics wouldn’t be out of place at a beach-front cocktail joint.
All in all, Amount’s compositions are what keep the album afloat. While there are moments that verge on monotony, the innocuously catchy beats and casual, easy-on-the-ear melodies keep the piece ticking along nicely without ever forcefully demanding your full attention.
If more time and effort had been put into crafting vocals and lyrics that work with the songs rather than against them, this might have been a very different review because there’s a lot to be enjoyed and applauded in the compositions that make up Achilles Heel.