By Zachary Adler:

Just when the death of serious music seems to be fading away for another stellar fall of album releases, someone like Trevor Jackson rolls across the musical slate, only to further destroy hope in the future.

Jackson is a 17-year-old actor and rising R&B musician that has been on Broadway and appeared in a national commercial. On Sept. 24 we saw the release of his new EP, #NewThang. Now if the inclusion of a “hashtag” in the title didn’t immediately deter you from this album, then just wait.

#NewThang is a boring, repetitive EP that revolves around a remix of “Drop It,” apparently considered a hit. Unfortunately, this remix, and the rest of the EP, gets into a bad groove and insists that it is a good one. The lyrics are boring, repetitive and focus on cliches such as clubbing, flat romances and un-explicit sex. These are really the cornerstones of pop music today.

Musically, there is more of the same. Very simple R&B rhythms that try to put Jackson in the front of the mix, seem to fall flat, especially since there is very little movement, or even change between any of the five songs on the EP.

In the end, you have to give the kid some credit for trying to break through the market with this EP, especially in a time where Youtube and singing competitions can give almost anyone a big break. But unfortunately, not even an actor’s touch can keep this EP from falling into the doldrums of predictability and similarity.