Band Maroon 5 recently came out with the seventh studio album, ‘Jordi’ that soars high in creative diversity with various artists featuring in the songs.
Maroon 5’s affiliation towards a sound resonating pop or indie-pop genre came into notice in early 2002 with their debut, ‘Songs About Jane’. Over the years, the band skewed towards pop heavily along with a popularity that made them constant position holders on various charts. They killed the music scene with their iconic collaborations with artists such as Christina Aguilera for the banger hit, ‘Move Like Jagger’. The sound grew optimally in the next few years and with the release of their seventh studio album, ‘Jordi’, the pop dream seems to be intact still.
Their previous album, Red Pill Blues also saw the band collaborating with various artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Future, ASAP Rocky, Cardi B, etc. and with ‘Girls Like You’, they took their game to a whole new level featuring personalities from different walks of life but obviously related to the glamor world of pop culture buzz. Sadly, their sound seemed to diminish in quality with the only distinguishing factor being Adam Levine’s falsetto that one can tell apart even in a crowd and from far.
The latest album is named after the singer’s friend from childhood, Jordan Feldstein who was also the manager for the band until he died in 2017. The song ‘Echo’ from the album featuring black bear may have been written for him. Levine’s compelling falsetto set across a textured beat makes it emerge with power. Blackbear also puts in a significant part of lyrical and thematic substantiality to the song. Singing with warmth and soft guitar strums, the two versions of the song ‘Memories’ feature the date rappers YG and Nipsey Hussle. Sharp and radiant, these songs brim with pop essentials all along.
The album is an emotional course especially following the death of their manager who is also the elder brother of actor Jonah Hill. The new album sounds like a contemporary city album complete with all the glamor and glitter of pop. The eclectic featuring guest list is definitely a head-turner but not for long as soon, the monotony of the sound takes over. With various artists, there is creative diversity but it does not emerge as a prominent field in the album. Rather, everything gets mixed and blended into a uniform course of pop-infused production.
Other artists who have contributed to the album include ‘Remedy’ with Stevie Nicks, ‘Lifestyle’ with Jason Derulo, and ‘Can’t Leave You Alone’ with the late Juice WRLD. Other artists to feature in the album are H.E.R., Megan Thee Stallion, and more. The album leaves a mixed liking with its assortment of dreamy and contemporary pop and the lyrical clarity that Adam’s voice brings. Although the star power is over the album, the song that sets Maroon 5’s creative capacity apart is the distinguishing vocal prowess sown by Adam. He is the frontman for a reason and he does not shy away from excelling in his space. However, collectively, the album’s introspection into the boundaries of pop will strike a chord with the audience. Listen to the new song on Spotify right away.
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