REVIEW: MAROON 5 - LOVE IS LIKE

3.5/5

Love Is...

A burning butterfly in black and yellow adorns the blue album artwork of Maroon 5's new set, 'Love Is Like'. Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, James Valentine, Matt Flynn, PJ Morton and Sam Farrar's first since 2021's 'Jordi'. And this eight wonder (ninth if you count 'The Fourth World' as Kara's Flowers) from the Californian collective finds them hitting the sweet spot of their sound, much like when fellow LA pop rockers Haim had 'Something To Tell You'. 'Love Is' like the big-three of 'It Won't Be Soon Before Long', 'Hands All Over' and 'Overexposed' for the 'Songs About Jane' legends. Recorded in Cali's classic Conway studios, this is another half-hour album of power this New Music Friday, like The Black Keys ('No Rain, No Flowers') and BABYMETAL ('Metal Forth'), last week.

Going against Chance The Rapper's 'Star Line' this one, Five's 'Like' features big collaborations like their 'Red Pill Blues' matrix. The biggest coming from BLACKPINK's own LISA. The 'Priceless' track, which was teased like a movie for its massive music video, is exactly that. And now the monster with the Thai rapper slash singer has become a top-ten single in eighteen regions. Put it next to Maroon's best like 'This Love', 'She Will Be Loved', 'Sunday Morning', 'Wake Up Call', 'Moves Like Jagger', 'Payphone', 'Animals', 'Sugar', 'Don't Wanna Know' and 'Memories'. Hollywood name rapper's Lil' Wayne (on the title track) and Sexyy Red ('I Like It') also appear alongside the platinum blonde buzz cut of Adam, showing that their forthcoming fall world tour could prove some great guest features. From the opening 'Hideaway', to new singles, this album is set to play 'All Night' for the best pop rockers since Sting and The Police.

Yet it's the closing 'California' track and single which is saved for last, like the best from these Los Angeles Times. Like 'V's' (the fifth album, not the BTS star) 'Leaving California' this continues the trend of beautiful ballads for Levine's legacy of songwriting. Jane's 'Sweetest Goodbye'. 'Goodnight, Goodnight' ('It Won't Be Soon Before Long'), 'Just A Feeling' (from 'Hands All Over'), and even 'Woman' from the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man soundtrack and 'My Blue Ocean' bootleg LP. But this top of the ten tracks asks, "Shooting stars come and go, but I wanted you to know/That I've nеver met nobody quite likе you, woah/You were gone in a flash, never had a chance to ask/Did I make this s### up in my head or do you feel it too?" Picture perfect, like the postcard lyric video traditional to these American dreams. Or so they seem.

This 222 and Interscope record is the first one since 'Hands All Over' to feature the same line-up as the preceding LP. Not just that, it's also the first since they were 'Overexposed' to credit other band members, aside from Adam, as songwriters. Like your very own Valentine, James. So, despite the big-three collaborations, this is mostly a family affair, like Sly and the Family Stone. Most tracks hover just above the two-minute mark, like 'Burn Burn Burn' and 'My Love', and no time, nor a note, is wasted in nuance. They just give it to you straight, no chaser, like the 'Jealousy Problems' of "I know this behavior’s beneath the spokes/But I think the f##### up thing is how it brought us closer now/I know it’s crazy, but I kinda like this dysfunction/I know you probably disagree, but I won’t make assumptions/But let me tell you something, I really wanna change/But that’s impossible, ’cause bad habits live, stay/Bad habits live, stay, stay, stay/Stay, stay." "There's a reason you keep coming back", Levine keeps repeating on the outro of 'Yes I Did'. And us too. This love is like this band and their muse. And she still will be. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Priceless (Feat. LISA)', 'All Night', 'California'.

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