NICK JONAS - SPACEMAN
Spaceman is an evocative yet modern pop record with many hits and misses. As many have said before, it’s difficult to separate Jonas from his ‘Disney prince-charming’ image. But, it seems that Nick is struggling with his identity too.
Spaceman is Nick Jonas’ newest release, which was primarily written during the peak of the pandemic whilst he was longing to be with his wife, Priyanka, as she was shooting a film abroad.
Spaceman is an evocative yet modern pop record with many hits and misses. As many have said before, it’s difficult to separate Jonas from his ‘Disney prince-charming’ image. But, it seems that Nick is struggling with his identity too.
Spaceman is lyrically cringy due to the corny references to sex, alcohol, money and just general ‘grown-up things’. There is no subtlety which makes the album sound completely false.
Nonetheless, there are definite triumphs production-wise. Greg Kurstin (worked with Liam Gallagher and Adele) adds that drop of excellence into the album. The production is smooth and has sly subtle past references that feel organic. In a way, Kurstin’s production covers up for Jonas’ lyrical blunders.
‘Delicious’ and ‘Deeper Love’ are the definite peaks of this record. ‘Delicious’ has a fittingly delicious quiet underlying guitar part that’s pleasing to the ear and definitely brings attention to the production rather than Jonas’ failed attempt at whisper-vocals. Also, it’s reminiscent of ‘Uptown Funk’ with the short, successful, retro horn-section. Overall, this piece is a successful nod to past hits and the futuristic vibe of Spaceman.
‘Deeper Love’ is a blaring ode to Foreigner’s hit ‘I Wanna Know What Love Is’. Despite the OG version of this song being an absolute classic (that should be left untouched), something about Nick’s version is solid. Perhaps it’s pleasing to hear because of the familiarity of this song, therefore, it brings listeners back home from Nick’s ‘space’ adventure.
Praise is due to the producers and engineers because they clearly took the futuristic theme of Spaceman and have sewn it into the overall sound. The rhythm section sounds crisp, modern and refined throughout the 35 minutes of this record.
However, praise is due again to Jonas and Kurstin for producing a coherent concept album.
In this day and age, it’s easy to fall into the trap of producing an album of 12 singles. Yet, Jonas didn’t succumb to this pressure and has produced an album that works as a coherent anthology with a clear musical arc. Each song blends into each other well. There is a clear emotional focus on this record – it starts off a bit moody and then it becomes more fun and dangerous, to then being completely honest about his feelings.
Although there are bits of transparency there are also blatant attempts to mask the emotional aspects by blaring about material and wealth. For the average listener, this may be disappointing because most popular music is written similarly. As a result, it’s difficult to find Jonas’ mark on the music as it sounds very ordinary.
But, for an album that was written during the height of a pandemic - this album is better than mediocre. But, it could’ve been refined a bit with more time.
Aylin Aliev
★★★☆☆