By Jessica Goodman, 24, reporting from Los Angeles, CA, on the latest master work by Adam Levine
Everyone seems to have an opinion about Adam Levine. Whatever yours is, a lot has changed in his life and music since he formed a band in 1994 with high school friends. They grew up to be Maroon 5, and, more than ten years since their singles “This Love,” “Harder to Breathe” and “Songs About Jane” put them on top of the charts, they’ve just released their fifth studio album, V. That’s pronounced “five,” as in the Roman numeral. As I was saying, everyone seems to have an opinion about Adam Levine.
My opinion? I’ve been a huge Maroon 5 fan for as long as I can remember. They were one the first bands I felt a connection to, that they just understood me. Whenever I felt down—or even amped up—I would put on one of their songs and everything just slowed down for a couple of minutes. I still have their last album Overexposed in my car, and I’m shocked that the CD has not cracked! It has a ton of great songs, including one with Wiz Khalifa called “Payphone” that always gets me singing along.
The brand-new one, V, has 11 songs plus 3 bonus tracks. At the very least, “Maps,” “Animals” and “It Was Always About You” are sure-thing hits. The Voice coach even has a duet on the album with Gwen Stefani called “My Heart Is Open.” It’s about not wanting to be with someone else after a breakup, and it’s as ballad-y as anything the band has ever done: It won’t take me long to find another lover, but I want you/I can’t spend another minute getting over loving you. This is a situation I have personally dealt with and almost everyone can relate to.
V manages to cover seemingly all the different phases of a relationship, from finding a new one or finding The One to sometimes finding yourself too scared to admit your feelings. It’s hard to find music these days that reaches every level like that and continues to draw in an audience that knows exactly where those emotions are coming from.
I’d say Maroon 5 hit it out of the park with this one, sticking to the core of their voice but taking it just the right amount further, deeper. Levine recently tied the knot with Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo. It’s hard not to imagine each song here—at least those on the happy side of the heart—was written with her in mind! Lucky girl eh?