In 2012 Jonathan Ng began his music career, as many do, on Soundcloud, under the moniker The Eden Project. He quickly amassed more than 200,00 followers. After posting three EPs to his name, (which he changed to EDEN in 2015,) and signing to UMG Recordings, Ng was ready to break through and finally release his debut album.

Vertigo offers a good lesson in the difference between making EPs and full albums. On one hand, the magnificent string intro to “Take Care” and the addictive percussive rhythm of “Gold” are excellent examples of the amazing artistic abilities that fans have come to love about EDEN.

The issue, however, lies in the lack of meaningfulness in Ng’s songs. While many of the songs have amazing pieces, they only offer a glimpse of a dynamic, meaningful song. The entire album is full of muddled ideas, never quite finding the sweet spot and consistent flow an album needs, but rather having some ideas work out, while some fall flat.

The entire album is 52 minutes of murky, unclear vocals about heartbreak. He rejects taking any kind of vocal risks, and thus sounds much like a whiny teenager after his first breakup.

“Start/End” is more than five minutes of desperately looking for an emotional response with no real hook or progression. Ng continues his subtle, depressing tone, which does not work as well on a full album as it does in a seven-song EP.

This album is very easy to sink into and listen to in the background, but quite hard to genuinely get into and enjoy.

However, hope is not lost for young Ng, who at only 22 years old is still just learning how to create such a large product. Ng’s fantastic artistic ability and young age will make it easy for him to correct his mistake with Vertigo and create something better from this experience.