STARS: 3/5

Fifth Harmony’s first studio album sans Camila Cabello is a sonically cohesive but uninspired effort that does little to build on the 2016 success of “7/27.” 
The 10-track LP “Fifth Harmony” comes on the heels of a landmark year for The X Factor forged girl group, who hit it big with Top 40 number one single “Work from Home” before splitting ways with fifth member Cabello in December.
With such juicy working material, listeners would expect the new album to include considerable sizzle from remaining members Dinah Jane Hansen, Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke and Normani Kordei. The women hinted as much during their August 27 MTV Video Music Awards performance, when the quartet took the stage as a five-piece before launching the fifth member, presumably representing Cabello, off the stage in a stunt.  
But the sass and danger courted in Fifth Harmony’s on-air stunt isn’t echoed in its newest album. The group’s declaratory act served to remind fans that Fifth Harmony is as much Fifth Harmony with four members instead of five, but its album achieves this feat almost too well.
Listeners would scarcely note a difference between pre- and post-Cabello Fifth Harmony, and “Fifth Harmony” tries so hard to hide any seams left by Cabello’s departure that it rings flat. Despite some variation, each track seems to bleed into the next.
The pop choruses aren’t quite catchy enough to produce a lasting hit and the engineered beats feel too subdued. This dilemma is on full display in Gucci Mane-assisted single “Down,” which feels like an aftershock of last year’s “Work from Home,” and attempted bad girl jam “Sauced Up,” which aims for raucous but falls short.
There are some highlights — ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’ brims with emotion and showcases the women’s vocal abilities, while ‘Bridges’ is this year’s feel-good anthem tinged with political commentary. ‘Deliver’ is a surprisingly bright, R&B-infused delight at the album’s midway point.
The album as a whole is sugary and innocuous fun, showing off the women’s vocals without pushing the envelope. While unremarkable, “Fifth Harmony” is a solid stepping stone in the group’s evolution — neither a misstep nor a leap forward.
Listen to “Fifth Harmony” below.