Track review: Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying"

Moving on from the worst ‘Idol’ coronation song ever conceived, Kris Allen takes on a more contemporary sound on “Live Like We’re Dying,” the first single off his upcoming debut album (Nov. 17).

“Dying,” which was originally written and recorded by the Irish band The Script, is reworked to fit Allen’s unique acoustic-friendly vocals and is extremely believable coming from him. The lyrics are positive and forward-looking but some come off a little cheesy and cliché (“You never know a good thing till it’s gone / you never see a crash till it’s head on”). The chorus, however, is fairly catchy and is hard to get out of your head.

As for Allen’s vocal job on the track, it is above average. The fact that he does not try to reach for any notes that are outside his natural range only helps keep “Dying” real. In the chorus, he takes on an indie alternative sound and despite its catchiness, Allen comes off sounding more monotonous than Mraz. This is obviously how the track was written to sound, but it is nothing special.

Regardless of how it ends up doing on the charts, “Live Like We’re Dying” is an adequate effort to help set a foundation for the genre of music Kris Allen will be pursuing, and it appears there really are no boundaries to where his music will go.

"Live Like We're Dying" is now available to download on iTunes and Amazon MP3 for $1.29.