Ivan Ave is an artist from Norway who made a splash back in 2014, when he signed to Jakarta Records and released an EP called Low Jams, produced entirely by Mndsgn. Since that time, he’s continued to work with Mndsgn., while also branching out to other producers like Fredfades, Kiefer, and Sir Froderick over his next couple of albums. Now, three years after his last album, Every Eye, he makes an artistic transition on his latest full-length, Double Goodbyes.

While there are some familiar faces on Double Goodbyes, namely Mndsgn. and Kiefer, Ivan Ave also welcomes in the collaborations of Clever Austin, Sasac, Byron the Aquarius, Devin Morrison, and Joyce Wrice. On paper, this might not seem live an obvious departure in style, but it will only take a couple songs into the album to realize that Ivan Ave is doing something distinctly different. He hasn’t completely abandoned rapping, but he’s singing much more than he’s rapping on this project as he shifts to more of an R&B sound overall. More specifically, he’s exploring the sound of R&B ballads of the early to mid-‘80s, a la Prince or Cameo or The Isley Brothers. Now, Ivan Ave doesn’t have the voice and big personality to suddenly make that kind of transition with the greatest of ease, but what he is doing is working within a limited range and being clever with his melodic choices to successfully deliver these intimate R&B songs. Over the course of the album, he’s of course talking about romantic relationships, but he’s also taking stock of his career and his relationship to music in general and figuring out what his new path is going to be. The style of the album suits Ivan Ave fairly well, and he’s working with some really talented producers and musicians to help him through the process. The only minor problem with the album is that it lacks in variety, especially with the tempo, so that is ends up sounding a little monotonous by the time you get to the end. I think it’s something that could easily be addressed as Ivan Ave moves forward, especially if he sticks with this style and figures out how to do more with his voice to carry the tracks and maybe push his songwriting a little more as well.

Double Goodbyes is an interesting album that finds Ivan Ave in a transition point in his career. Overall it’s a successful transition as he finds his footing, he’s just not as strong and confident in this R&B style as he was an emcee spitting over some jazzy beats. Hopefully he’ll stick with it so that he can get there.