I had the pleasure of reviewing Cruel Summer as a Vital Signs single last year, and hearing the work in the context of an LP makes me appreciate the musicianship and creative efforts of this group even more. The Hive shows a few production and arrangement struggles, but the high points of the release are worthy of Elon University giving this group a campus parade.

Can we start with the gold medal winner? Jessie is absolutely ridiculous: a zippy, smoldering jazz piece with illegal amounts of swagger and fun. The popped, funky percussion from Prabh Saini with bass interlacing is beyond description; the background singers have shoved the energy level past the seams of the song; lead Jessi Jennings is a sorceress; and the arrangement from Noah Whittaker is a marvel. Have you seen clips of fans fainting at Michael Jackson concerts? This is a Michael Jackson concert situation.

On to everything else. To The Moon is a slow-burn opener with gorgeous swells and lush chords. I'm guessing the tempo naturally pushes ahead during live shows, and maybe that's not a bad thing for a bit more intensity. I'm still smitten with Cruel Summer; no one writes about diction much, but if I had to add something to my original review, how nice is the percussive diction from the lead?

For something different, Vital Signs offers When. This is a somber piece with a duet that comes and goes, which adds to the sadness, the incompleteness. The lead often sings quietly enough to sound confessional, giving the work a haunting undertone.

The final two songs don't stamp an exclamation point on The Hive. It's nice to hear the catchy jam Makes Me Wonder come through the a cappella circuit again, but the mixing and mastering is less than ideal; why is everyone so darned loud? Live recording Grows Old doesn't match the rest of the release sonically, but I do recognize the group gets to do what the group wants to do. You can still hear solid musicality and some good old-fashioned wailing.

Although The Hive is an uneven listen, Vital Signs continues to intrigue.

At the end of Vital Signs's last release, Flatline, I challenged the group to spend a bit more time focusing on the details of its arrangements in order to make the jump into that next tier of a cappella releases. After listening to The Hive, perhaps the group took some of that to heart — but it's still not quite there yet.

Starting with the positives: Jessie is certainly the star of the album, and the whole group absolutely shines throughout. Noah Whittaker did a beautiful job arranging the piece, allowing it to grow naturally from start to finish, and the group shows tremendous musicality in leaning into those moments of growth from a dynamics perspective. The percussion allows the whole piece to just groove from the start; well done to Prabh Saini on the great work! And the solo by Jessi Jennings is simply sublime. Is there any correlation between the name of the track and the soloist's name? It's quite possible, but what I know for sure is how her solo seems to just float and dance over the background vocals from start to finish. Not limiting herself to just showing off on one track, her solo on the opening To The Moon is equally impressive where she showcases both a gorgeous tone and fantastic vocal control throughout her entire range.

Taylor Swift's Cruel Summer obviously takes center stage on the track list, and I applaud Vital Signs for taking on such a popular song. I'm sure it wasn't entirely known how the song and Swift as a whole would dominate the world in 2024 and beyond when Saini decided to arrange the track. Songs like this can be tricky given how well-known they are and the group not wanting to stray too far from the original, and I like the decision to strip down the beginning of the first chorus to give soloist Jaid Green a chance to shine early on. That said, I want a little more from the backing vocals at times, especially during the bridge, and the percussion is too forward in the mix. I'm not sure if the decision was to mix it completely like that, or if it was simply the choice to emphasize the "pff" snare during the choruses, but it is a bit distracting at times.

Coming towards the end of the record, Makes Me Wonder did have me scratching my head just a bit. Many of the transitions between sections and even the choruses are just a wall of sound from the backing vocals, where I have a hard time distinguishing one part from the other. Where I can pick out parts, they just don't come across with the same energy and engagement from the group as the other tracks do. I'm wondering if it's a tempo issue with the arrangement? The track does seem considerably faster than the original by Maroon 5, and so it comes across as the group rushing to get through each part (and therefore leading to a bit of a compressed recording), but I'm merely speculating here. But going from Jessie earlier in the EP to Makes Me Wonder left me with the impression that I was listening to two completely different groups.

Isolating Makes Me Wonder as a bit of an anomaly, it's clear that Vital Signs is moving in the right direction with the other tracks on the record. If I get more Jessie-like tracks in the future from Vital Signs, I'll be one happy listener.

The last time I wrote about Elon University's Vital Signs, it was a group that showed a lot of promise in recorded a cappella. The Hive is a continuation of that promise, and a welcome one. The group is showing signs of improvement but isn't quite all the way to excellence yet.

The opening song trio on this album starts out so very strong. To The Moon is very introspective and wistful. Cruel Summer doubles down on some of these feelings: Jaid Green's solo is powerful and driving; Prabh Saini's arrangement is constantly flowing and evolving, working as the perfect backdrop for the solo. It concludes with Jessie, my favorite track of the album. This track is constantly playing with rhythms. Jessi Jennings's solo is calculating but sounds so comfortable, and Noah Whittaker's arrangement is impactful in all the right places. There's plenty of colorful chords and intermingling rhythms that just play so well together. These three songs collectively tell a story and work so well together to highlight the group's strengths.

However, the next two tracks lose some of that quality. They feel less focused and driven than the opening numbers. When gets a little too lost in the serenity of the piece such that dynamics become an all-or-nothing affair. Makes Me Wonder has the exact opposite problem: trying to be hard hitting, but not quite making an impact. There are also some challenges caused by the songs being too repetitive — a little too much like the group went on autopilot and was just overall less energized while singing these charts.

The final live track of the album shows a peek behind the curtain, which might also explain some of the group's missteps. In many ways, the only difference between the stage and the studio is the post-production. The fundamentals of music performance should always remain; the balance and blend should be of the utmost importance, and the sound should still be energized. However, when looking at a track like Grows Old, there are a lot of missteps happening. The unisons have a lot of warbles. Background phrases should be melodic, but instead come across more as plodding. The melody gets lost in all the lines. The bass line tends to plod along, especially as it becomes repetitive. It very much feels like the group is focused solely on individual lines and not the piece as a whole. When the song ends, it simply ends without any context as to why, and it is very unsatisfying.

Vital Signs is continuing to learn and grow and hone its craft, but it's now a matter of consistency. With songs more complex and interesting, the group keeps its mental engagement. By keeping that mental engagement, the singers are providing a product that is full of musical intrigue that is sure to keep the listener wanting to come back. Take a listen, see which tracks engage your brain, and enjoy.