Album Review: The Album | Jonas Brothers
Unsuspecting front-runner for the soundtrack of the summer.
The Jonas Brothers have been working overtime on their latest LP, The Album which dropped on May 12th. They’ve been all over the promo circuit - from the announcement of their summer tour “5 Albums, 1 Night”, dropping in on Armchair Expert, Chicken Shop Date, and hanging out with…Jimmy Fallon and Octopus Lover? It seems like they’ve been doing the most to attract some eyeballs for this album rollout. However, pre-release singles Wings and Waffle House seemed to not make a large impact (No songs are anywhere to be found on the US Top 200 on Spotify, YIKES!).
….and loads of promo is for good reason, because The Album is pretty solid. After spending a couple of weeks with the bite-size 33-minute record, there are some really fun, summery, groovy, Bee-Gees-inspired tracks here. The JoBros should be proud of their work here.
The production on this record is all from Jon Bellion - the mastermind behind some of the biggest hits of the last couple of years. He’s been writing for Bieber, Halsey, Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez, Lizzo, and Maroon 5 to name a few. His production style is clearly evident and it really works. The record is pretty cohesive and feels like something easy to throw on for a summer BBQ.
Check out our favorite tracks, listen to the album, and see our scores below:
Can’t Miss: Summer In The Hamptons, Summer Baby, Sail Away, Walls
You Can Skip: Little Bird, Celebrate!
BY THE NUMBERS
Bennett’s Score: 5.8
Carson’s Score: 6.8
Album Score: 12.7/20
Average Score: 6.3
Notes from Bennett:
The vocal performances (Especially the Joe Jonas adlibs) on Sail Away are soaked in fun. “Transcendentallistical Tempo” Has been running through my head ever since my first listen.
I’m a fan of the vibe Americana carries, really exemplifying the groovy drums that are a character for the entirety of The Album.
Celebrate! was written solely for an Old Navy or JCPenny’s commercial. One listen was enough for me.
Summer In The Hamptons Is the most unique offering the Jonas Brothers have put forward. From a production standpoint, the vocal loop accompanied by what sounds like a warped-steel guitar creates a unique backbone the rest of the song floats beautifully around. I also love the risk of putting a vocal sample dead-center in your chorus here, it pays off very well. Lyrically, I wouldn’t expect the Jonas Brothers to be writing very fashionable & posh songs about sex.
Lastly, I want to note Jon Bellion’s work throughout The Album. His vocals and synth work (I assume) on Americana are unmatched and he continues to impress with small cameos throughout, all the way through his very gigantic feature on the outro of the album, Walls.
Notes from Carson:
Huge fan of Montana Sky, largely in part of its “Got distractions by the river in Virginia
That could take up all my time” lyric. <3 It’s relatable because I do often get distracted thinking about my Apple Watch sitting somewhere in the James River.
Wings feels a little half-baked to me. This could be an 8 if it was a full-length song and not a 118-second snippet for TikTok to latch onto.
I have to fight the inner urge to give Celebrate! a 10 simply because the groovy baseline works but it’s also a little too department store material. The “you better hit the right and Hit the left now, turn around and slide” is too on the nose for a hopeful TikTok dance and stealing from DaBaby for me to really love. Also, the bridge is a little cringe.
The instrumental break in Vacation Eyes is so Delfino Square from Mario Kart
Little Bird is not a BAD song. But you can’t just make this record of fun, groovy summer smashes and then throw a slow, sad ballad at the end of the record???? (This is the same mistake I think Harry Styles made on Harry’s House).
Walls is beautiful. Jon Bellion did his thing there.