Album Review: Maroon 5 – JORDI

Dedicated to the band's original manager, Jordan Feldstein (who passed away tragically in 2017), Maroon 5's latest full-length has been heralded as their most personal offering yet. And indeed, in a seventh studio album that can only be described as a roller coaster, the pop band circles around complex themes of grief and learning how to heal after loss.

The second track, 'Lost', sees the band at their best and most poignant. Levine's voice remains a marvel, housing a unique sound that is capable of both raw intensity and polished falsetto. Lyrically, it's honest and plaintive, with the refrain: "I was so broken, my heart was an empty space."

But the band loses momentum real fast. The next song, 'Echo' – which features emo-rapper blackbear – sees Levine immediately follow up the sentiments expressed in 'Lost' with: "I got this echo where my heart used to be". Which is, in essence, the same idea. It's fine, but I had hoped for a little more.

Back in 2002, when Feldstein was the band's manager, Maroon 5 veritably exploded onto the music scene with their debut album Songs About Jane. They were considered an indie-pop band then, but in recent years they've become chart-mongers, who tend to rely heavily on featuring artists to buoy an increasingly tired sound. There was the Christina Aguilera-assisted 'Moves Like Jagger' in 2014 (still a banger), and a short-lived hype around the bonus version of 'Girls Like You', which Cardi-B hopped on. Their last album, Red Pill Blues, featured SZA, Kendrick Lamar, Julia Michaels, Future and more.

It seems Maroon 5 are doing much the same with JORDI. The first three tracks advertise a mellower, more subdued version of the band's chart-friendly sound. The album features rap and hip-hop kings and queens of the day, in moments that are occasionally fitting and poignant (as with Megan Thee Stallion's verse on album opener and early single 'Beautiful Mistakes,' and the late Nipsey Hussle's assist on the remix of 'Memories') – and sometimes inexplicable (Juice WRLD-assisted track 'Can't Leave You Alone' is missable at best).

This could be down to two things: it's possible that Levine just really likes hip-hop, and thinks these artists are talented and well-deserving of a spotlight in the mainstream. But a cynic might say that he's aware of his descent into the depths of  repetition, and using elements of hip-hop to boost his own street cred.

Levine also brings in some of pop music's most famous figures, to varying effect. 'Remedy' features Stevie Nicks (and also a tambourine, which seems weird until you remember that Nicks has a penchant for playing one onstage and in many of her own songs), and is so bad it almost beggars belief. With a chorus that feels like a direct rip-off of one of Fleetwood Mac's less exciting tunes, it's full of clichés both musically and lyrically.

On the other hand, 'Convince Me Otherwise' (featuring H.E.R.) is a refreshing pop ballad that sees the recent Grammy and Oscar-winner pulling Adam Levine out of a formulaic vortex, with her remarkable emotional immediacy and ear for vocal improvisation.

It's hit-and-miss at best, but there are some golden pop moments on JORDI if you give it enough of a chance.

5/10

Listen below.