Ology

Commanding and versatile, Christopher Gallant’s voice demands to be center-stage. It often had to push through an alt-R&B haze on 2014’s *Zebra* EP but is now set to cleaner, brighter R&B that’s literate in rock (“Talking to Myself”), slick pop (“Bourbon”) and ambient dubstep (“Open Up”). The genre-splicing always builds to a sky-scraping chorus but Gallant remains each song’s most infectious element. Unflinching in his honesty, he lays out his insecurities with a voice that shifts flawlessly from a careworn croon and aching falsetto to gale-force yearning.

Singer/songwriter Gallant's weightless voice channels ’80s and ’90s R&B, channeling the feeling of those eras without taking too much from them. On Ology, he’s coming to grips with all the struggle he’s endured, assessing himself through a mix of candor and ambiguity.

Alternative R&B singer Christopher Gallant — or Gallant, for short — takes us on a thrilling journey with his debut LP, Ology, the successor...