Xavier Toscano Feels So Good Review: Laden With Potential, But Still Finding His Sound

Although they have similar sounding names, Xavier Toscano’s Feels So Good is not the Gorillaz’s Feel Good Inc. Toscano’s EP features several songs which have no distinction of their own- some are fun dance tracks and other drapes on themes such as love and loss. It’s not an awful effort at all, it just pulls him into two entirely different directions. Ultimately it could have made for two solid and adventurous EPs rather than an album.

Feels So Good is an 11-track album that fuses the genres of EDM, pop, and funk, featuring songs Toscano released in the past such as Never Wanna Leave, The Remedy (Feel Alright), Runaway, Apologies Wasted, Castles In The Skies, among others. Again, it’s a smorgasbord of sound that shows Toscano’s range, but it never hits you as hard as it could. Once you get settled in, the sound usually morphs into something else.

Never Wanna Leave is kind of the microcosm of the album, as lyrical quality suffers amid the excellent instrumental work. Rather than sound like a raving club song, it sounds like a freshman’s love letter- the lyrics can speak for themselves, “Who needs the worlds when everything is in your eyes, cause you have it all.” The music itself is no better. It’s not energizing or memorable, it’s not enough for you to get up and dance, but rather just enough for you to lightly bop your head and tap your foot.

The next song, The Remedy (Feel Alright) is all right, all things considered. Its got robotic vocals, funky music that you can groove to and upbeat lyrics that can make the listener feel that they’re the life of the party. This is the Toscano we would have liked to see more of. This is where he stands out. This is where the party really starts.

Though the album might be labeled as party-themed, there are some songs of passion, such as Runaway, Apologies Wasted and Castles In The Sky. Though Runaway will fit along with the rest of the album, as it is about dancing with someone you feel a connection with, the other two tracks are emotion-driven and focus on breakups, heartbreak and loss such as Castles In The Sky, which Toscano sings,” Clouds can’t hold ’em Castles don’t float in the sky.” The song itself is also backed by a lovely piano piece.

After these “love” songs, we get back to the party theme, Nas-T-Nize, the seventh track of the album is a throwback to the days of soul, funk and disco and it’s a song for easy listening. Unstoppable Fever has a killer baseline throughout the whole song.

However, the real standout track of the album is You Make Me Feel Mighty Real (LFB Pop Mix), it’s techno-pop song with energizing music and great vocals, it’s actually a song that will want to make you get up and dance on the club.

Overall, Feels So Good has a few super listenable tracks such as The Remedy (Feel Alright), Castles In The Sky, Unstoppable Fever and You Make Me Feel Mighty Real (LFB Pop Mix), but they never firmly establish themselves as a whole. Whether it be track order or Toscano’s own versatility- this young artist has to establish himself more before he tastes all the flavors of the musical rainbow.