As a disclosure, it would only be fair for you to know that this review was written with a slight amount of bias. I still own my t-shirt from the Jonas Brothers’ 2007 tour and I still dream about little Nicky J in his green Converse and painfully tight skinny jeans. I dove headfirst into the Jonas Brothers’ craze and didn’t resurface until their hiatus following their 2009 album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times.
However, fan girl feelings aside, take one listen to Nick Jonas’ brand new solo album and all those Disney boy band perceptions are going to go out the window. This album is damn good.
As the die hard JB fan that I was – I am more than aware of Nick Jonas’ musical abilities. He writes his own stuff, has mastered a plethora of instruments and his voice has a unique style that still leaves the ladies in a trance after all these years. So when I heard he would be releasing his own solo music, I knew it wasn’t going to be anything less than brilliant because Nick has always been known to be a perfectionist.
The main thing that Nick has going for him is his fusion of strong lyrical content and infectious beats. Each song has an incredibly captivating hook and concept in it which is extremely important for a guy who is trying to drop a boy band image. His newfound R&B influence is fun, mature, indulgent, sinful and so much more. For just a moment, erase any prior conceptions you had of Nick Jonas and just listen to the album from start to finish – you will have a very different opinion on him by the end.
You can tell that every detail is calculated which is a quality that Nick has always had for the music he puts out. There is no filler track – each song paints an incredibly strong image of the musical path he is traveling down. Throw out any of the songs and the album just isn’t the same – every second of this record is important and holds just as much weight as the next. For a debut album to not have any filler tracks is surprising to me and just shows how much work Nick has put into this new musical venture.
Without a doubt, expect to hear his track “Avalanche” on the airwaves within the next few months. Teaming up with long time friend, Demi Lovato, this track is a match made in heaven. As a powerful R&B ballad that is a change from his rather fast tempo tracks, “Avalanche” really allows for his writing ability to shine through. The lyrics are emotional and you are able to grasp a sense of relatability before the first chorus even kicks in. Nick and Demi’s vocals flow together so effortlessly – they both have such smooth and strong singing styles that captivate you from beginning to end. As artists that have written together on many tracks over the years, this pairing is perfect for the airwaves and for any fans out there that have been following the two of them since the Disney days. This is a collaboration to remember.
By far, one of his strongest tracks on this album is “Numb”. Featuring the vocal stylings of Angel Haze, this is a track I am pinning as Nick’s summer single. It’s so strong vocally, has that R&B radio stylings that outlets are looking to play every hour and the incorporation of Angel Haze is enough to draw in listeners who are fans of an assortment of music genres. It is bound to get stuck in your head and you can’t help but dance along. Shoot, even Nick was letting some moves fly out of him when I saw him perform this track back in September.
Through his years with his brothers, it was ever present to me that Nick was dying to get out from under the Disney microscope and really begin down a new path of music. Since his younger days with those floppy ringlets, he has had an incredible amount of potential to truly expand on his music career. With an album like this under his belt and wrists free of Disney ties, this is just the beginning of Nick Jonas and he is definitely an artist that needs to be watched. Congrats, Nick.
