Future History (Deluxe Edition)
Jason Derulo
Label: Beluga Heights
Pop music is the hybrid of all music. It takes various elements of pretty much all other music and mashes it all together to make something that is instantly catchy; sickly sweet; and perfect for both that Monday morning rush to the station and those Friday night dashes home. This brings me nicely onto Jason Derulo’s new album which he obviously holds in high regard as it has been ambitiously titled Future History. Now on previous songs Derulo has been a master at the Pop mash up and makes sampling others tracks seem second nature so he is great at making radio friendly songs from past history but Future History…… we shall see.
The album opens with the 1st single ‘Don’t Wanna Go Home’ which heavily samples Robin S Show Me Love. This is a smart move from Derulo as this is one of the biggest and most recognisable club songs in Europe and the dance club scene is having more and more of an effect in the states these days too, the song itself is what we’ve come to expect really. Very catchy easy to dance to and hey presto Number 1 single time.
The second single ‘It Girl’ proves that Derulo is capable of slowing things down and laying it all on the table as he pleads ‘you can be my It Girl’ and ‘This is it girl give me 25 or life’. It again has radio firmly in mind and this top 5 hit again proves Derulo has serious airwave clout. The rest of the album is firmly in the dance inspired genre with backing vocals overlapping making each song seem like you know all the words after just one listen. Songs that pull this off well are Givin’ Up, Make It Up As We Go and Fight For You as well as the throbbing baseline of ‘Breathing’. There are one or two forgettable moments on the album where you feel he has gone too cliché and therefore the songs border on cheesy. Overdose being the perfect example, lyrics like ‘let me love you till I overdose’ are just a bit cringe worthy and let’s face it have all been said a million times before. The standout song has to be the closing track. ‘Dumb’ see’s Derulo getting all emotional and berating himself for being so stupid and Blind about a relationship where he clearly got burnt. This is such a standout track as amongst all of the dancing and auto tuning you finally get to hear a strip backed version of the singer actually singing from the heart and not just about going to the club. I very much doubt this will be a single as it just doesn’t fit in with every other song on the radio but it’s impressive all the same.
Overall this record is a solid effort with many potential singles that I’m sure will be all over the charts in the year to come. In the fickle world of pop music to create an album that is so radio safe is actually quite difficult as you need to sound fresh and exciting without sounding too far removed. On the whole this album executes that well and that is a great achievement however to declare this as Future History….. That is ambitious. Good try though.
3.5/5
Jason Derulo
Label: Beluga Heights
Pop music is the hybrid of all music. It takes various elements of pretty much all other music and mashes it all together to make something that is instantly catchy; sickly sweet; and perfect for both that Monday morning rush to the station and those Friday night dashes home. This brings me nicely onto Jason Derulo’s new album which he obviously holds in high regard as it has been ambitiously titled Future History. Now on previous songs Derulo has been a master at the Pop mash up and makes sampling others tracks seem second nature so he is great at making radio friendly songs from past history but Future History…… we shall see.
The album opens with the 1st single ‘Don’t Wanna Go Home’ which heavily samples Robin S Show Me Love. This is a smart move from Derulo as this is one of the biggest and most recognisable club songs in Europe and the dance club scene is having more and more of an effect in the states these days too, the song itself is what we’ve come to expect really. Very catchy easy to dance to and hey presto Number 1 single time.
The second single ‘It Girl’ proves that Derulo is capable of slowing things down and laying it all on the table as he pleads ‘you can be my It Girl’ and ‘This is it girl give me 25 or life’. It again has radio firmly in mind and this top 5 hit again proves Derulo has serious airwave clout. The rest of the album is firmly in the dance inspired genre with backing vocals overlapping making each song seem like you know all the words after just one listen. Songs that pull this off well are Givin’ Up, Make It Up As We Go and Fight For You as well as the throbbing baseline of ‘Breathing’. There are one or two forgettable moments on the album where you feel he has gone too cliché and therefore the songs border on cheesy. Overdose being the perfect example, lyrics like ‘let me love you till I overdose’ are just a bit cringe worthy and let’s face it have all been said a million times before. The standout song has to be the closing track. ‘Dumb’ see’s Derulo getting all emotional and berating himself for being so stupid and Blind about a relationship where he clearly got burnt. This is such a standout track as amongst all of the dancing and auto tuning you finally get to hear a strip backed version of the singer actually singing from the heart and not just about going to the club. I very much doubt this will be a single as it just doesn’t fit in with every other song on the radio but it’s impressive all the same.
Overall this record is a solid effort with many potential singles that I’m sure will be all over the charts in the year to come. In the fickle world of pop music to create an album that is so radio safe is actually quite difficult as you need to sound fresh and exciting without sounding too far removed. On the whole this album executes that well and that is a great achievement however to declare this as Future History….. That is ambitious. Good try though.
3.5/5
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