Omar Apollo, ‘Ivory.’

After a string of EPs and a mixtape in the last few years, singer-songwriter Omar Apollo has finally finished Ivory. A long time in the making—he scrapped almost an entire album’s worth of material mere days before promotion began, and he started over—his first LP continues his trend of integrating styles. Influenced heavily by his Mexican-American heritage, Ivory blends both Spanish and English for a refined and progressive debut pop record.

Two of the singles preceding the album’s release were collaborations; one featuring Kali Uchis and the other with Daniel Cesar. By beginning to listen here you’ll find the range Ivory’s sonic side takes on. Uchis and Apollo sing together on “Bad Life,” an acoustic track that features a quiet guitar and keyboard to support their echoing and moaning vocals. Uchis comes in during the bridge for a swooning set of lyrics, the glistening femininity of her voice working almost viscerally alongside Apollo’s.

The collaboration with Cesar strays from the raw instrumentals, opting for an R&B-influenced, more electronically produced beat. Apollo credits Cesar directly for the sound of the song, showing the way he uses influences around him to make something distinct for himself.

Fortunately, both styles of the album are equally good and the record moves between the two seamlessly. Apollo’s vocals are consistently strong throughout, alternating between his falsetto and more subdued or distorted styles.

The upbeat “Go Away” has a relentlessly smooth, groovy and summery feeling to it. Apollo’s voice goes from falsetto on the chorus to his middle range for the verses. On an album full of catchy songs, this might be the catchiest. It’ something you could throw on at a party and receive no objections. Then there’s “Tamagotchi,” produced by Pharrell Williams, which is far more complex than most others here. The first and second verses are sung in Spanish while the bridge, chorus and hook are all in English. It features plenty of Pharrell’s signature production styles with sharp electronic beats and echoing vocal callouts.

On “No Good Reason,” Omar Apollo delivers the verses at a choppy speed, strikingly similar to Mariah Carey on “Touch My Body,” though other than that, the songs are quite different. “What you making me mad for?/ What you talking like that for?/ Who you tryn’a be bad for?” he sings before a track repeats the lyrics back, this time twisted and distorted.

On the more acoustic portion of the album, there are songs like “Evergreen,” an easy-moving pop song about a lover who left Apollo for a woman and, even though he’s heartbroken, he still wishes the man well. “You know you really made me hate myself/ Had to stop before I break myself,” he sings about a love that didn’t outlast the season.

There’s “Petrified,” where his voice appears to ache. “You sang me a song, but it didn’t exist,” he sings, telling of a man who came into his life without offering much but remains lingering in his mind. “Waiting On You” is another of the acoustic tracks and is easily the standout on the slow side of the record. Moving with a casual mid-tempo beat, Apollo’s voice is hushed and supported by the percussion. He sings about waiting for the man he likes to catch onto his feelings.

“En El Olvido” is sung entirely in Spanish, absent of anything besides Apollo’s voice and acoustic guitar plucking. The traditionally Mexican sound is accented by his strong vocals and melts in the final moments directly into the heavy beat of “Tamagotchi.” Though the song is short, his voice will linger with you through the rest of the record.

Ivory gives Omar Apollo the fullest platform to display his songwriting, vocal dexterity and the converging musical styles that influence him.

Follow Domenic Strazzabosco at Twitter.com/domenicstrazz and Instagram.com/domenicstrazz.