If you believed Jeremy Jay exorcised his relational demons on his previous releases (that’s assuming you even know who Jeremy Jay is), Splash! immediately proves you wrong. Consider the song titles present: ‘Something To Remember You By,’ ‘Why Is This Feeling So Strong,’ ‘This Is Our Time,’ ‘A Sliver of a Chance,’ ‘Just Dial My Number.’ And that’s ignoring a few others.

I’m as game for a relational road trip as much as the next guy, but unfortunately, Jay’s only interested in a brief, mostly juvenile journey. ‘Just Dial My Number’ riffs and echoes with all of today’s lo-fi standards and a prominent piano intrigues in the track’s beginning. Yet that’s before Jay starts singing, “Ring, ring, ring goes the telephone … Just dial the number, just dial the number / I will be there on a whim / I will be there even if it’s raining tonight.” I’d advise letting it go to voice mail.

‘It Happened Before Our Time’ relies on a certain brand of whimsy, but the silly strums and equally silly lyrical turns tip things overboard. The drone-heavy ‘Something To Remember You By’ becomes Splash!’s highlight with an interesting synth wash and simplistic drum movement. But the momentum is killed with the very next tune; ‘This Is Our Time’ features a too earnest approach referencing a “suitcase full of wishes” and the singer’s BMX.

Jeremy Jay wants to remain a capricious lyricist upon a musical backdrop that he says is inspired by Siouxsie Sioux and Pavement. Those elements can be heard, but any promise given by such comparisons are instantly lost within their greater setting. Unfortunately, such childish hands are unable to build melodic constructs that can stand up to critique.