There’s a music video for the title track from New York newcomer Beca’s latest Born to Fly EP. In said video, the singer flips her wet hair in a Miami swimming pool. She pouts at the camera beneath big, blonde hair. She offers the sea a pensive gaze and digs her toes in the sand. Yeah, it’s the kind of four minutes and 15 seconds that would cause teenage boys to vote into TRL if this were 1999.

But Beca does all of the above while mouthing along to her groove of a song, which opts for more of a melancholy R&B sound as opposed to her first drop of 2012, the electro-poppy “Let’s Run Wild”. Despite the title track’s elementary, lovestruck lyricism (“I am you / You are me / Traveling through infinity”), her sweet, saccharine, and sultry vocals make it easy to buy. There’s also a heavy dosage of instrumentation, as opposed to “Let’s Run Wild”‘s more minimalistic bass and synths, which conditions the seductive pop.

On the slow jam “Rage & Fascination”, the singer fastens her voice to a simple piano, masking her trademarks amidst forgettable verses until a soaring chorus or two sets her free. It’s a light reprieve, but not enough to salvage the track, or even more, stay true to its title. A few remixes round out the EP, but it’s more effects and pizzaz and a major detour from anywhere Beca ought to be heading.

Too much gazing, little digging, perhaps.

Essential Tracks: “Born To Fly”