Nick Jonas is a Spaceman
Back in March, singer/songwriter Nick Jonas released his third studio album, “Spaceman” complete with no features to become the music artists’ first solo album since 2016’s “Last Year Was Complicated”. This is also Nick’s first album to drop since reuniting with his brothers to drop the boy bands’ first album in years. In creating the album Nick Jonas told the folks over at Apple Music that he really locked in on four themes: distance, indulgence, euphoria and commitment. He also wanted to create an album that was one seamless journey where each song flowed into the next, something that indeed was mastered beautifully on “Spaceman”. Furthermore, Nick also revealed that all the songs on “Spaceman” are love letters to his wife, Priyanka Chopra. The album as a whole is just what Nick wanted it to be, a euphoric dance through this life of being a distant astronaut.
To start off the album, “Don’t Give Up On Us”, features booming vocals over a heartbeat rhythm produced by all around music aficionado Greg Kurstin who Nick says “really helped him” channel a number of his influences for the “Spaceman”. Next up is “Heights”, which continues the heartbeat rhythm and according to Nick fulfills the commitment theme that he locked in on for this album as he wanted a song that communicates that leap of faith aspect everyone takes when they dive into a relationship. It is an ethereal unreal sounding song that just lifts you higher the deeper you get into it.
The title song of the the album “Spaceman” comes in at track number three. The song relates the grim-reality of self-isolation induced by the COVID-19 pandemic to that of a spaceman in well, space (duh). It is an extremely witty and retrospective song with a euphoric edge to it.
Skipping ahead we have “Delicious” which has an 80’s vibe to it complete with a trumpet fanfare. Nick even admits the song takes influences directly from Huey Lewis & The News along with Peter Gabriel. The sixth track on the album “This Is Heaven” is quoted by Nick as being his favorite on the album as its about his personal experience with faith and religion. It features a joyous chorus complete with a sax solo and a beat that flows like that of a Sunday choir.
The ninth track, “If I Fall” Nick views the tone as “a bridge” between his solo career and the “Jonas Brothers stuff”, something his brother Joe even called him out on playfully. You can certainly hear the Jonas Brothers influence as you listen to the track. The final track on the album, “Nervous”, is a pure love song just as Nick said he wanted to end the album on.
Overall despite being only 36 minutes long, “Spaceman” feels like an hour long journey that offers a new adventure at every track listing… something that is not easy to pull off but Nick with the help of his entourage do near-perfectly. It may not win Album of The Year, but if you listened truly to the album that was never the end-goal. That is why Nick Jonas is a Spaceman.
Album Score: 4.7/5.0
Christian’s Top 3:
- This Is Heaven
- Spaceman
- Heights