Sugar Ray "Little Yachty"

As per usual preparation before I see a band live, I revisited Sugar Ray's catalog, and upon re-evaluation of Music for Cougars, have found that maybe I had judged their former swan song a little too harshly. It just never had resonated with me as closely or excited me as much as their earlier records had.
The same could be said for this album. I would not blame the detachment on the decade hiatus, but the current that this album has seemed to submit to. This is yacht rock we're talking about, the only tide here is the typical divide that has existed since the first major paradigm shift in an artist's sound; and this is not one of those, for their music has shifted from their initial style gradually over the years. I did not expect Little Yachty to serve Lemonade and Brownies, and the sounds that accompanied their sweetness, but I would have liked a little more variety that previous albums had presented.
Although the first song may be a hint as to what the album may sound like, the highest tree will not necessarily enlighten you to the elevation of that island, but have you heard of a hybrid palm-redwood? The song? A reminder that they still sound like summer, and evoke the pleasant vibrations affiliated with a warm and relaxing day on the beach, or on "Coconut Bay."
On the shore of the chorus, in the latter tune, you can hear the waves of the reminiscee, and you may realize what I mean.
The following songs each have their own points of appeal like the instrumental passage toward the end of "Sunday Love," the depiction of "Perfect Mornings" with a loving family, which evokes joy, or the message in "What The World Needs" to name a few, but it doesn't change the fact that some of the songs sound bland. However, track nine, you "Make It Easy" to dig the sound, and I cannot place why.
While lemonade is not served on this yacht, they do serve Pina Coladas, and that sounds like the perfect escape, and a very appropriate cover for this genre of music. "California Gold" is a funk-lite, piano lead dance number that livens the party, a little too late.
Overall, I did like the album, and will listen to it again, if I feel so inclined to do so, but in the background, but that's not an insult because the music is often not the sole focus, isn't that what yacht rock is about?