Jonas Brothers Album The Album
The Album is the sixth studio album by American pop rock band Jonas Brothers.
It was released through Republic Records on May 12, 2023. The album features a sole guest appearance from Jon Bellion. Production was handled by Bellion himself, the Monsters & Strangerz, Pete Nappi, TenRoc, the Diner, Daniel Tashian, Ido Zmishlany, Johnny Simpson, and Colin Brittain.
| The Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 12, 2023 | |||
| Recorded | 2022 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 32:47 | |||
| Label | Republic | |||
| Producer |
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| Jonas Brothers chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Album | ||||
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Regarded as a more mature endeavor for the band, critics noticed the adult contemporary sound of the record. The brothers conceived the album to reflect their state of mind, with lyrics about enjoying life, parenthood and their relationships. The concept for the album was to create the "quintessential Jonas Brothers album" that would capture the 1970s sound that influenced the brothers as musical artists.
The album's release was supported by three singles, "Wings", "Waffle House", and "Summer Baby". It serves as the follow-up to their previous album, Happiness Begins (2019). It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 in its debut week, logging the band's seventh top-ten entry on the chart.
The Album was met with acclaim from music critics for its summer-themed, feel-good vibes as well as the nostalgic influences on the record. To support The Album and their other four previous albums, the Jonas Brothers have embarked on the Five Albums. One Night. The World Tour.
Background
On February 25, 2020, during an interview on the Today show, Nick Jonas revealed that the group had been working on a new album with Ryan Tedder and that the details are "going to be announced in the next couple weeks", also hinting that "What a Man Gotta Do", a single that they had released the previous month, would serve as the potential lead single for it. On September 23, 2022, the group posted a picture of Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas in a recording studio with Jon Bellion, who was sitting at a piano, writing that they were in the process of creating the album, in which Joe also hinted at its completion.
On January 13, 2023, Nick appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show, in which he shared that the album had been completed and that the Jonas Brothers were currently "kind of in that planning moment with the campaign, the album, the single – all the things". Exactly two weeks later, Nick, Joe, and Kevin sat down for an interview with Variety, in which they revealed that the album includes of elements of 1970s pop and Americana and is partly influenced by the Bee Gees, Carole King, America and the Doobie Brothers, while they also revealed the titles of a few songs from it: "Wings", "Montana Sky", "Vacation Eyes", "Little Bird", and "Waffle House".
On January 29, Joe teased a snippet of "Wings" through an Instagram video that showed him in a studio with both Nick and Kevin. The following day, all three brothers went on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in which they announced that the album would be titled The Album and was set to be released on May 5. On February 22, the brothers announced that the album had been pushed back exactly by a week to May 12 in order to release it alongside its vinyl version.
Writing and recording
The sonic world for this album is really organic to what those records sound like back in the sixties and seventies, so Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire. ‘Wings’ was very inspired by that instrumentation. The rhythmic element is electrifying. It takes you back to the good old days.
– Nick Jonas on developing The Album, via press release
Work on The Album started in 2022, when Bellion sat for a meeting with the brothers at Nick’s house, where they discussed the art direction for the album, with the producer helping the band to achieve their vision and desired sound. The first song they recorded was "Montana Sky", noted as "a spacious pop song with a breezy, filtered acoustic guitar and a thrumming baseline, which set the mood for the whole album".
For the album, the band opted for a funk-inspired pop album, with references from late 1970s pop grooves of Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, The Doobie Brothers and The Bee Gees, with the brothers stating they took inspiration from Oasis’ "Wonderwall" and Paul McCartney’s “Hey Jude” for providing the blueprint for songs on the record.
Release and promotion
To promote their then-upcoming album, the brothers announced a five-night Broadway residency at the Marquis Theatre, from March 14 through March 18, 2023. The concept was that each night they would play the entirety of one of their catalog albums (starting with Jonas Brothers and finishing with their then-forthcoming release, The Album), while also performing their greatest hits. On March 18, 2023, the fifth and last night of their Broadway residency, the band performed most of the songs for the yet-unreleased album, along with some of their older hit songs, as well as some hit songs of the brothers' side musical projects (Nick as a solo artist and Joe's other band, DNCE).
To support the album, as well their previous four albums the band embarked on a world tour, where they intend to perform all songs from Jonas Brothers (2007), A Little Bit Longer (2008), Lines, Vines and Trying Times (2009), Happiness Begins (2019) and The Album (2023) at every concert. The tour started on August 12, 2023, and is set to conclude on June 20, 2024, consisting on a total of 106 shows.
Singles
The lead single of the album, "Wings", was released on February 24, 2023. It was accompanied by a music video, released on the same day, directed by the Black Coffee Productions duo, Josh Rimmey & Zach Williams. The second single, "Waffle House", was released on April 7, 2023, also being accompanied by a music video, directed by Anthony Mandler, released April 28, 2023. The third single, "Summer Baby", was sent to adult contemporary radio on June 5, 2023.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| The Independent | |
| The Line of Best Fit | 7/10 |
| MusicOMH | |
The Album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who described it as enjoyable and timeless. Retropop called the album "timeless" thanks to its "plethora of influences from across the decades". The Independent's Helen Brown said of the album "At no point does The Album push for edge or originality. But you'd have to be the barbecue grinch to deny its lovingly crafted, feel-good vibes".
Maura Johnston from Rolling Stone wrote that the band's sixth album "has summertime pop sparkle", calling "a sparkling pop party full of romance and hooks, with the three brothers—along with pop maximalist Jon Bellion and other top-tier producers—flexing their songwriting and harmonic chops". And while commenting on the album as body of work, she noted that its production "shows how Jonas Brothers' ambition is only getting bigger as its legacy expands". For Billboard, Hannah Dailey stated: "The Album is saturated with bright synths and unabashed joy, as Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas profess their love for their ladies, their kids and their carefree lifestyle, making for a final product that’s poised for many hours of summer playback", while also naming the single "Wings" as the best song on the record.
The Hollywood Reporter named "Vacation Eyes", the eighth track on the album, as the third best song of 2023, citing "is the kind of soft pop, yacht rock sound we want from them" as the brothers "entered their adult contemporary era". Variety named "Summer Baby", the third single off the album, as the 16th best song of 2023, with Steven J. Horowitz writing that "alongside songwriter Jon Bellion, who worked with them at length on the project, the trio wrote a love letter to yacht rock (and their wives) that snapshots what it means to be doe-eyed in love", and adding that the adult contemporary sound "feels right for JoBros".
Commercial performance
In the United States, The Album debuted at number three on Billboard 200 chart, earning 52,000 album-equivalent units (including 35,500 in pure album sales) in its first week. This became the Jonas Brothers' seventh top ten album on the chart. The album also accumulated a total of 20.5 million on-demand streams of the album's songs.
The album also marked the band's fourth number one on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, according to Luminate. The trio previously led the chart with their albums Happiness Begins (2019), Lines, Vines and Trying Times (2009) and A Little Bit Longer (2008). On the first week, 35,500 copies of The Album were sold, with physical sales comprising 29,000 (20,000 on CD, 9,000 on vinyl) and digital download sales comprising 6,500 copies.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miracle" |
| 2:21 | |
| 2. | "Montana Sky" |
|
| 2:49 |
| 3. | "Wings" |
|
| 1:58 |
| 4. | "Sail Away" |
|
| 3:12 |
| 5. | "Americana" |
|
| 2:00 |
| 6. | "Celebrate!" |
|
| 2:06 |
| 7. | "Waffle House" |
|
| 2:25 |
| 8. | "Vacation Eyes" |
|
| 3:32 |
| 9. | "Summer in the Hamptons" |
|
| 2:07 |
| 10. | "Summer Baby" |
|
| 2:41 |
| 11. | "Little Bird" |
|
| 3:09 |
| 12. | "Walls" (featuring Jon Bellion) |
|
| 4:26 |
| Total length: | 32:47 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Waffle House" (alternate version) |
|
| 2:41 |
| 14. | "Vacation Eyes" (alternate version) |
|
| 4:12 |
| Total length: | 39:40 | |||
Note
- ^[a] signifies an additional producer
Personnel
Jonas Brothers
- Nick Jonas – lead vocals, background vocals, bass guitar
- Joe Jonas – lead vocals, background vocals
- Kevin Jonas – guitar (all tracks), background vocals (track 10)
Additional musicians
- TenRoc – keyboards, programming (all tracks); bass guitar (1, 3–12), guitar (1, 3, 7, 9–12), background vocals (6, 9, 10, 12); string arrangement, strings (10); drums (12)
- Pete Nappi – guitar, keyboards, programming (all tracks); string arrangement (1, 8, 10), bass guitar (2, 4), mandolin (2); background vocals, strings (10)
- Jon Bellion – lead vocals (12), background vocals (1–4, 6, 8–11), keyboards (3, 4, 8, 9, 12), programming (4)
- Rebecca Perea – cello (1, 8)
- Marcus Brodsky – viola (1, 8)
- Jaycee Cardoso – violin (1, 8)
- Andrew Perea – violin (1, 8)
- Alex Sievren – strings (1)
- Alex Palazzo – guitar (2)
- The Monsters & Strangerz – programming (2–11)
- Jordan Johnson – background vocals (10)
- Stefan Johnson – background vocals (10)
- Clyde Lawrence – bass guitar (3, 11, 12), keyboards (3, 8), programming (3), background vocals (4), melodica (8); drums, guitar, programming (12)
- Jordan Cohen – keyboards (3), programming (3), background vocals (4, 12)
- Explicit – background vocals (6)
- Michael Pollack – background vocals (6, 10), keyboards (6, 11)
- Richie Cannata – saxophone (6)
- Mark Miller – trombone (6)
- Brad Mason – trumpet (6)
- Taylor Nohs – background vocals (9)
- Gregory "Aldae" Hein – background vocals (10)
- Sarah Cornet – background vocals (12)
- Colin Brittain – guitar (12)
- Johnny Simpson – keyboards, programming (12)
Technical
- Serban Ghenea – mixing
- Jon Bellion – vocal production
- Pete Nappi – vocal production
- Stefan Johnson – vocal production (3, 5, 6, 10, 11)
- John Arbuckle – engineering (1, 4, 6–8)
- Pete Nappi – engineering (2, 4–12), recording arrangement (1)
- Nathan Feler – engineering (2, 4–12)
- Stefan Johnson – engineering (10)
- Augusto Sanchez – immersive mix engineering (5)
- Joe Grasso – immersive mix engineering (5)
- John Hanes – immersive mix engineering (9)
- Bryce Bordone – mixing assistance
- Jeremy Klein – engineering assistance (2)
- Kyle Reith – additional engineering (9)
Charts
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | May 12, 2023 | Republic | ||
| United Kingdom |
| Polydor |
References
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