Suprises is the moniker for Brooks Paschal, a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music producer (and probably a bunch of other things) from Orlando, Florida. All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Die is Surprises’ debut album, and like one might glean from the title, it walks the fine line between melody-driven introspection and bedroom-pop sappiness. But this is a first listen, right? And hell, there is nothing wrong with a grown man recognizing the beauty of a well-crafted pop song, and Surprises offers up a handful of them in this 14-track long-player.

All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Die is the kind of record you could listen to with your parents. That’s not a back-handed comment, but rather speaks to the mainstream appeal of Surprises. Acoustic guitar, piano, textured percussion/drums and the occasional inclusion of strings are the vehicle for Paschal’s vocals, which will certainly have a polarizing effect on listeners. On this first listen, there were times when the sentimentality and sheer unsurprising-ness of Surprises left me kind of bored, like something was held back. Yet there are definitely some gems here, especially when Surprises is stripped down to a single, capoed guitar and a melody.

I’m not enamored by this first listen by any means, but given that I’m sick as a dog and it’s near blizzard conditions here in the mountains of North Carolina, giving a straight-up acoustic pop album like All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Die some more plays seems like a good idea. Who knows, it might make me feel better.

Editor’s Note: name your price for the album here, peoples. Enjoy.