Nick Jonas - Last Year Was Complicated

Nick Jonas

Last Year Was Complicated

2016

Spotify

With a title like Last Year Was Complicated you would expect to get a rare look into the inner workings of the Jonas camp, some idea of just where Nick's head has been and what to expect from the former child star. This album as a whole is a perfectly fine piece of modern day pop. Jonas is in a way taking the Justin Timberlake route and making his music more sexual, and a more grown up look at pop music but that really is where it ends. Timberlake on his Justified record took some major risks and trusted Timberland to guide the music is an interesting yet appealing direction. This album takes whatever is popular and puts it front and center. Jonas' voice is perfectly fine, but there is a lack of depth or soul that is fine for teen bop records but when it comes to trying to convey some real emotion he misses. This may be a situation where we just know way to much about a person to believe what the hell they are actually saying. It is hard to suspend that disbelief when he sings, because deep down you have this suspicion that someone somewhere is trying to get one over on you. Maybe perhaps the most egregious of these is "Bacon" featuring TY Dolla $ign, it feels like the absolute most contrived song you have ever heard, pandering to a group of people who more likely than not will see right through it. 

It's not all bad though. "Voodoo" as an opener has a far away vibe and is actually bringing in some interesting instrumentation. "Close" the collaboration with Tove Lo, is sexy, endearing and one of the biggest highlights of the record. But those moments really are flashes in the pan. Even Big Sean's feature on "Good Girls" is so sleepy that you'll have trouble even keeping your eyes open when listening to it. I don't often quote Plato in reviews, but it applies here that Last Year Was Complicated is merely a shadow of a good pop record. It has all the elements and the exact same shape but in the end it is more of an imitation than it is the true thing itself. You find yourself wanting the real thing like on "The Difference" which hints at a tropical house record, but falls short and falls hard. The occasional hit aside Last Year Was Complicated never lives up to the hype i set up for itself. This album was supposed to new coming out party for Nick Jonas, but it only goes to show that maybe Nick is not the star He thinks himself. you may hear this in passing on the radio, but in terms of seeking it out it is an easy pass. 

5.9 out of 10