JORDI: The half-hearted cornucopia that could be AOTY
Right now the current state of hip-hop has never been better, as over the past two weeks big names have been dropping new albums and singles including but not limited to, Migos, Polo G, Gucci Mane, Doja Cat and most recently Tyler the Creator. In the mix of hip-hop that has become unleashed, it can be hard to catch up on top releases from outside the hip-hop pool. That's where this album review has you covered with no other than Maroon 5’s seventh studio album “JORDI” which is a early deep sleeper for Album of the Year (and I will humbly brag here that I correctly predicted the last Album of the Year.)
The name for the album “JORDI” was chosen to show respects for the bands former manager Jordan Feldstein, who passed away back in December 2017 due to a pulmonary embolism. The album runs at forty three minutes long and has been in the works since late of 2019 when band released the widely popular hit first single, “Memories”. When asked about the album lead singer Adam Levine, remarked to Apple Music, that the album gets “introspective and personal” and that during the time of the COVID pandemic which is when the album was created, it was a “very reflective time for everybody and it seeped into the music, I think, in all the right ways.” Most interesting is the choice of collaborators that Maroon 5 chose to use in this album. From H-town powerhouse Megan the Stallion, to Florida pop-punk phenom blackbear to Puerto Rican rapper Anuel AA and even posthumous vocals from the likes of Juice WRLD and Nipsey Hussle.
The First Half (1–7)
The album starts off with “Beautiful Mistakes” which was also featured as the third and last single to JORDI. The song is an upbeat vivid song that features Levine and Megan the Stallion singing of separate awful relationships, one where Levine pretends he’s still with a previous lover and Megan the Stallion sings of confronting someone who did her wrong. Also interesting enough, blackbear did the keyboard for this song where he then is featured on the third track, “Echo”.
The two best songs on the album happen to be the second track “Lost” and “Echo” of which I'm sure one or both will find Grammy nods ahead of the next ceremony. Megan the Stallion makes for the best featured artist on the album but in terms of overall compatibility with singing styles, “Echo” featuring blackbear feels like a familiar and refreshing sound that dips toe into the darker side of pop courtesy a guide of blackbear.
The songs “Lovesick” and “Remedy” of which the latter features the legendary act, Stevie Nicks are forgettable ditzies.
The highlight song of the first half, a true hidden gem that delighted me much to listen to repeatedly, came in that of “Seasons” has Levine singing of his perseverance and integrity towards one singular person (most likely a love interest) to the tune of a cascading undulating beat with plenty snare action.
“One Light” features Zimbabwean singer/songwriter Bantu and kickoffs as a prelude to a confusing and underwhelming second half of music.
The Second Half (8–14)
The second half starts off strong with the first two songs in “Convince Me Otherwise” with a majestic ballad between H.E.R. and Levine and the albums lead single “Nobody’s Love” which features a terrific piano ballad with dance-pop genre influence firmly attached to the entirety of the song.
Can’t Leave You Alone features Juice WRLD in what feels like an out of place feature and feels more like pandering to a certain fanbase than that of an honest song. Of the melodic song Levine even admits of never getting to meet the late Chicago rapper but wishes that he did. Following this song we have the pop hit “Memories” along with remix featuring YG who Maroon 5 has collaborated with before and another posthumous feature in that of Nipsey Hussle. Another confusing and seemingly out of place feature on the album.
The song “Button” which has Maroon 5 team up with two Puerto Rican music artists singing about being lovesick. Per Levine, the band had actually been sitting on the song for a number of years but chose to unveil it now.
THE BOTTOM LINE
“JORDI” feels like a pandering to as many masses as possible. At first look at the track listing I was intrigued, excited to see if this is the album that would bring Maroon 5 back to the forefront of the pop-band pack. Instead I was greatly disappointed. The more I listened the more it seemed that “JORDI” is like a failed strategic and calculated approach to stretch the boundaries of Maroon 5’s musical jargon to as many other genres as possible to create a confusing “amalgamation” of an album. Every music artist that appeared on the album with the exception of blackbear whose sound is basically a melodic form of Maroon 5’s disposition found their musical strengths stripped and reduced to singing in the old played-out pop anthem formula that Maroon 5 has been stuck in since its inception. With that being said it should come at no surprise that the best songs on the album are void of any features. Maroon 5 intentionally handicaps themselves by the presence of any other artist than blackbear on the album. Like a mouse setting up a mouse trap for itself.
“It should come at no surprise the best songs on the album are void of any features”
I am all for bands and music artists stretching their horizons/boundaries into new sounds and collaborations but the way that Maroon 5 goes about it feels half-hearted and despite what the lead artist Adam Levine says, I find it terribly hard to believe that “JORDI’ was difficult for him and his band to create. They literally sing about the same thing with different collaborators all album. Oh I'm in love, I'm lovesick, love isn't for me, your my love etc. This is not their formula just for JORDI too, this is how EVERY Maroon 5 album goes. When you realize this and see how the posthumous features of Juice WRLD and Nipsey Hussle are incorporated into this formula “JORDI” seems tone-deaf in general. Everything that enters the Maroon 5 studio comes out sounding the same way.
Maroon 5 is a band that is in urgent need of TRUE re-invention or else the once prosperous band whose name was once synonymous with the word pop faces a future of irrelevance in the pop genre if they are not already there. The shiny allure that Maroon 5 tracks used to be able to carry has come and passed. And this is coming from the guy who still has “Sugar” in his Top 50 playlist.
AOTY Worthy???
Despite all the shortcomings that “JORDI” has, the album does sound fantastic and has all the right things that Grammy nomination voters are looking for. Fantastic production, a plethora of features from multiple different genres including posthumous featured nods and the premise for the album…. remember the album per Levine is named and tributed to the bands late deceased former manager. If the album receives multiple Grammy nomination nods, and I suspect that it will, it could help revitalize the future of the LA band so that they won’t catch themselves singing one of their old songs on the highway to irrelevance.
Christian’s Album Score: 3.5/5
Christian’s Top 3 songs:
- Lost
- Echo (feat. blackbear)
- Seasons