By: Ben Bunda
Joji
BALLADS1
Joji’s BALLADS1 conveys the whole story after the breakup with his sad but sweet album. From truly missing that person in tracks like “WANTED U”, “CAN’T GET OVER YOU” and “R.I.P.” to just wanting to be recognized and validated in his feeling with tracks like “ATTENTION” and “I’LL SEE YOU IN 40”.
Then to the challenge of moving on, but maybe not truly ready to move on, in “TEST DRIVE” and “YEAH RIGHT”. Feelings of not feeling good enough after a breakup come through on “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” and “NO FUN”.
Finally losing meaning in what you’re doing on “WHY AM I STILL IN L.A.” If you need to go through the full range of emotions to truly cleanse yourself from that relationship listen to Joji’s BALLADS1 and hopefully by the end you’ll come out the other side a new person.
AJR
The Click
Sometimes you aren’t looking for a relationship with someone, and that’s fine. Friends are just as important, if not more so. AJR’s The Click conveys these feelings. “Drama” and “Turning Out” convey the bad side of relationships that maybe you are trying to avoid. The “Good Part” wants to skip to the good parts of a friendship. Parts like a “Netflix Trip”, “Come Hang Out” and “Bud Like You” are about friendship: the experiences, and good times you have with each other. Friends are also there for you in times of hardship, which “Sober Up”, “Weak” and “I’m Not Famous” convey.
“No Grass Today“ says to focus on other things that make you happy, friendship is a great alternative to relationship woes. To round it off; “Call My Dad” reminds us that sometimes our best friends are our parents, because they know us best.
AJR’s The Click conveys a lot of positivity towards just being friends. So keep that in mind before you rush into things because some- times a friend is more important and what you need in your life.
Bazzi
Cosmic
Bazzi’s 2018 album COSMIC has a lot to say about love. It covers the full spectrum from being so unbelievably infatuated with tracks like “Dreams” or “Soarin”. It conveys wanting your significant other to know how they make you feel with aggressively catchy tunes like “Star”, “Beautiful” and a lead track that brought Bazzi fame: Mine. Young love isn’t all sunshine and rainbows either, Bazzi captures feelings of doubt and uncertainty on tracks like “Why”, “Mirror” and “Changed”.
Not all new romances work out, a reality Bazzi shows as he reminisces about exes he wishes had worked out and others he’s glad ended on tracks like “Myself”, “Honest”, “Gone”, “Fantasy” and “Somebody”.
Dash in a few tracks about sex and late night conversations with “BRB”, “Cartier” and “3:15” and you’ve covered about all you can about young love. Whether it works out, or doesn’t there’s a large uncertainty and mountains of raw emotion, and that’s why Bazzi’s COSMIC perfectly conveys young love to me.
Album Cover's provided by Wikipedia Title Photo provided by Fortune