nick jonas: s/t

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/Nick_Jonas_-_Nick_Jonas_%28Official_Album_Cover%29.png

prob the best hybrid pop/r&b album of the year but i don't know of any others so i'm not sure "album of the year" is a meaningful distinction. a reductive way of thinking about this record is that it's what 20/20 experience should've been, but honestly i think it's more interesting than that. it also reminds me of kaleidoscope dream, probably in how it's simultaneously steeped in tradition and v exploratory (and jonas' delivery more than once recalls miguel). some of the details in the production make me think of a modernized early jam/lewis, in the smooth but kinda delighted and agitated qualities of the grooves. even one of the more seemingly pedestrian songs ("warning") becomes suddenly invigorated when jonas' falsetto rips through the texture of the second chorus.

it's also very tidy (38 minutes) and very consistent, and improves considerably every time i listen to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw04QD1LaB0

very into this album. it most reminds me of jc chasez and it'll be interesting to see if jonas can make it work commercially where chasez couldn't. it's really goofy and OTT and slightly ridiculous, in terms of his persona - the "jealous" hook alone contains two absolutely terrible lines that he somehow gets away with it because of self-awareness and also catchiness. (the beats being all super-slick helps.)

it most reminds me of jc chasez

Hmm, sold.

it makes timberlake's "classy" steez look really, really fossilised - so many more ideas and energy here

hooks for fucking days too

and angel haze kills it on "numb"

yeah this record is extremely generous with hooks

still haven't checked the whole album, have such a love/hate thing with "Jealous." i've always liked Nick way more as a songwriter than as a singer, he wrote a lot of Demi's first album and it's fantastic.

"jealous" is catchy as hell but requires a lot of faith to not sound creepy as hell as well

i mean it's a dude defending his "right to be hellish" because his girlfriend's too "sexy beautiful" for him not to be driven into possessive fits

yeah i can't tell whether framing that sentiment as harmless goofiness might be worse than weeknd-style ~dark stalkery butttt i think jonas pulls it off

also just the word 'hellish,' he doesn't even phrase his stupid idea well

btw does Brad have a good reason for not tweeting anymore or can we bring him back to twitter

i mean that's a line chasez walked as well, that kinda-sleazy thing he went for on "some girls" and "a.d.i.d.a.s."

year of the gentleman is also a point of reference for me here

i'm also not here for lyrics but i find myself agreeing with lex that there's a knowing reflexiveness in his delivery. which may just be a convenient interpretation

it may

like, i still enjoy the song, but i think my relative willingness to overlook it due to musical hooks plays into that more than some lyrical craftsmanship on his part. there's no way to pretend it's not a noxious sentiment.

there's the "it's not your fault" get-out clause

it's less knowingness and more that he depicts himself as the idiot for being jealous. though i don't think that helps as such

not to sound pious, i just think it's important to acknowledge how subjective one's acceptance of skeevitude is, rather than complimenting the artist for getting you past it

if someone's like "ugh that song is gross, i don't need a guy telling me he's hellish because everyone wants a taste" it's not like they're missing anything

the tinashe remix makes it less skeevy, i guess

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mHO_oFqQ4o

if someone's like "ugh that song is gross, i don't need a guy telling me he's hellish because everyone wants a taste" it's not like they're missing anything

anybody saying this?

glad u could work through this croup

why are you being defensive?

again not trying to be judgey, was just listening to ray parker's "the other woman" and while on one level it's tempting to say he makes a song about falling in love with your sidepiece "work" that says more about me and my relation to the concept than the song

and if you really find the above hypothetical implausible, i'm basically quoting a personal conversation i had about the song after expressing my enthusiasm for it. i hadn't really grasped the lyrics and had that creepiness brought to my attention. sorry if that spoiled the party or something

sorry if you meant "is anybody saying they're missing something" rather than "is anybody saying the song is gross", but i actually do think describing the song as 'working' due to lyrical catches and stuff suggests you think they're missing something

you'd be saying that you've found material in the delivery/lyrics that makes it permissibly skeevy

Thanks for inspiring me to give this a try, as it's sat on my desktop for a week. "Pom Poms" was the first time these guys made me anticipate more.

i will give him credit for suddenly having a voice i can stand

not defensive, just annoyed! you tend to explore through a cascade of posts how women must feel about a thing when i'd rather hear that perspective articulated by and have this conversation with women rather than a room full of dudes! which i'm not necessarily going to get on ilx so thank you for the dose of perspective regardless, I didn't even hear the lyrics until this morning which is a failure in my listening

I'm getting Pointer Sisters "Automatic" vibes from "Teacher"

i didn't explore "how women must feel" in multiple posts. i quoted one person, and had a "cascade of posts" about how that influenced my feelings about how people defend songs. and yeah, i'm sorry for my posting style, it's obnoxious. i should take my time so that i don't have a bunch of addendums. But again, there was no "if i was a woman" shit going on at all. there was a suggestion that critics could stand to acknowledge subjectivity more and credit the artist less when they like a song that's got an undeniably gross lyrical element.

i agree! sorry for getting annoyed. worth noting that one of nick jonas' big inspirations for this record is in fact the weeknd so yeah skeeziness is text there

oh and alfred otm, i was trying to figure out what specifically in post-disco "teacher" reminded me of

i kind of wonder if i'm feeling a linda perry effect, where the sudden tolerability of an artist is so surprising that one's driven to unduly praise them for it. last i remember of this guy is him weedling miserably in front of the new power generation

and "Push" sounds like what Luke James triumphed with a couple months ago

Based on one play through, I don't feel like it's 100% great, but there are enough songs I like to keep it in rotation for a while. Wish the Tinashe remix of Jealous was the album version.

kinda the last dude i would have pictured making a decent futuresex/lovesounds rip. iirc his brother tried and failed a couple years ago.

i mean my association of nick jonas is the same as some dude's, he cowrote amazing songs on the first two demi lovato records (kinda fun to see her on this record too)

"Teacher" is so great, destined for a good remix or five also

yeah i always respected this guy's songwriting ambitions but thought he was forever burdened with wheatus voice

irl lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMb_cBv3iks

had to sing it with a gospel choir to drop "hellish" from the lyrics but really the line shoulda just been "it's my right i can't help it" to begin with.

sometimes i like "jealous" and sometimes not really, "teacher" is def good tho

I think the "it's my right" is more problematic than the "hellish"?

"it's my right" is more problematic, "hellish" is more cringey

what is the first line of the chorus tho? difft lyrics sites i've seen have "i turn my cheek, music up" and "i turn my cheer music up", neither of which are good

I really like the album, and also 'Jealous', but the lyrics on 'Jealous' always remind me of a physically abusive partner trying to justify their abuse in remorse the morning after. I mean 'you're too sexy, beautiful and everybody wants a taste that's why i still get jealous' sounds like a guy who has beat his girlfriend for chatting to another man and then attempts to proportion a certain amount of the blame for his actions onto her.

I realise that the lyrics aren't directly relating to domestic abuse; however, they're so creepy and possessive that these are the images they conjure up for me.

yeah the whole thing is problematic but I was just talking about specifically how poor the hellish/jealous rhyme is

the way he sings "hellish" is so annoying too, like even more than the rhyme

lex, I would assume it's "I turn my chin music up" (see no. 2)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Chin%20Music

I find myself able to overlook the problematic lyrics on this one, just because it's so silly. It's jrhyming dictionary nonsense with no clear intent beyond scanning to the rhythm.

Also, I could be reaching, but the falsetto seems almost deliberately comic, as if it's poking fun at the obnoxiousness of the chorus

"listening to new @_MAXWELL_ album" -- no one in 2014

D:

http://www.thefader.com/2014/11/22/nick-jonas

v good discussion of this album and its issues

'personally all i've said is that a) i enjoy the song b) the chorus sentiment is creepy and c) that it's a tad gauche to stretch for reasons it's not creepy instead of just admitting it's creepy and that you like it anyway'

This is almost exactly how i feel about the song. It's one of my favourite songs of the year but the lyrics are incredibly possessive and creepy and i struggle to see how they could be construed as anything else.

sonically "jealous" is an instant classic imo, lyrically, well... it's not too hard to ignore. he should just hire a lyricist (or a better one).

TS: Nick Jonas's "Jealous" (rhymes with "hellish") vs. Chromeo's "Jealous" (rhymes with "fellas")

man I'm not typically about Chromeo ever but their "Jealous" is great. lots of hooks in good stupid fun

never heard the chromeo song but will rep for the dimples tee song using that rhyme

i just listen to the tinashe remix, which doesn't lessen either narrator being kinda dickish but does lessen the creepiness

it goes hand in hand with beyoncé's "jealous" to me, both songs in which the narrator tries to grapple with their own irrational jealousy and come out with different results that illustrate how jealousy as a legitimate emotion is gendered and framed within heterosexual relationships at this moment in time

tbh it's really easy for me to tune out the lyrics, especially since his way of singing them is so tasty and full of little hooks.

I don't think this song is creepy.

the hooks def keep me listening when it's on the radio but it's starting to blur with "love me harder" in my mind

don't get why, on a board comprised of people who generally are aware of the complicated history of popular music, pearls are clutched regarding a conceit finding the singer struggling —expressed explicitly within the song's text— that he knows that his behavior is questionable, he can't help it and is trying to address it. I feel this way several times a week. Don't you?

the list of songs (or indeed anything creative) that are great and contain sentiments that are in the long run not healthy, asshole-ish and should be discouraged re: interpersonal relations and in the public sphere stretches into infinity. Or rather: I like songs that reference bad behavior.

I really really liked it when I heard it but Tinashe's contribution makes it my favorite of 2014 alongside Ariana/Weeknd "Love me Harder," which also struggles with conflicting feelings, wanting to fuck someone, etc…

otm post & this song is super classic

His OK falsetto keeps it from classic status and I prefer "Love Me Harder" but the song is dope.

Didn't know where else to put this, but he sings the hook on this Sage the Gemini song and overall it's pretty great. It was hard to find. Guessing it leaked and they pulled it to polish it up because it sounds a little unfinished in parts.

https://soundcloud.com/unfluent-culture/sage-the-gemini-good-thing-featuring-nick-jonas

New single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X-V34Ly_Z4

Every time it hits the prechorus, I get "You Oughta Know" stuck in my head

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Every time it hits the prechorus, I get "You Oughta Know" stuck in my head

― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Friday, August 21, 2015 6:59 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

yes this was my first thought too

There's something really charming and idiosyncratic about his music, but I'm not sure it's going to translate into the commercial success he's aiming for. If he wants to keep writing weirdo pop odes to his wife that's fine by me though, I like them a lot.

gotta have Meek Mill on the remix

would be better as an avicii sample

i love this song :/

which one, "levels"?

it's really catchy but has enough bad ideas in it that i feel kind of dumb when it gets stuck in my head

it kinda didn't really take off huh

his top 40 run may have just been an amuse-bouche for the weeknd's

actually, double-checked and "levels" is still rising up the charts - moved up from #56 to #46 this week. can't count it out yet.

yeah it's getting a lot of pop radio adds right now, i don't think it'll be as big as "Jealous" or anything but i think it'll do alright and keep things moving for him

yeah it's not a flop or anything but it's been a slow mover

when i first heard it i thought it might have put him on a sort of second album ariana grande track but i guess not

i was wondering recently what's up w/ him cuz "jealous" was huge & he has fame credentials but he still was stuck doing the vmas preshow as tori kelly did the mainstage and his first ever tv performance of "levels" was on seth meyers and not the tonight show

hard out there for a pat boone at #8 when little richard's at #1

dude's got some hooks but does anyone actually buy his "now i'm dark & sexy" shtick for a second?

i don't but i don't think he even really inhabits it enough for ppl to see the failure

yeah he's pulling off tindr&b well enough to have some hits, but he can't even compete with Sideshow Schlub in the charisma dept. somewhere deep down he just wants to make lite funk with the new power generation again.

This is very Drake, take that how you will:

http://uk.complex.com/music/2015/10/nick-jonas-new-video-premiere-area-code

omg those moves are shameless

dude's got some hooks but does anyone actually buy his "now i'm dark & sexy" shtick for a second?

meekly raises hand

i'm going to pretend like that new song doesn't exist though

i.e area code

We thought "Levels" was overall lame. I tend to think there are few things worse in pop than failed lightness, i.e. a guy who wants to be Bobby Brown but sounds like Glenn Medeiros.

based on the way things are gaining it does look like "levels" will be a hit

kinda surprised tho b/c it sounds so... weak

going to disagree with you there

the announcement video for the single's upcoming premiere was better than the single

RIP Nick Jonas' shred career

http://www.metalinjection.net/av/nick-jonas-attempts-guitar-solo-fails-miserably

lol at how 'area code' just dropped off the end of the earth

and lol ^ at the above. he really is such a plank of wood.

he'll run for office one day; calling it now.

i don't think "Area Code" was ever worked to radio or anything, it came out while they were still pushing "Levels" (which got a big push and stiffed for real)

Well it had a video!

Levels is so good

Pro tip: It is too high to sing at karaoke if you are a baritone