Last Year Was Complicated

Rating

Album: Last Year Was Complicated
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Voodoo	More Info...	0:03
2)	Champagne Problems	More Info...	0:03
3)	Close (Feat. Tove Lo)	More Info...	0:04
4)	Chainsaw	More Info...	0:03
5)	Touch	More Info...	0:03
6)	Bacon (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)	More Info...	0:03
7)	Good Girls (Feat. Big Sean)	More Info...	0:04
8)	The Difference	More Info...	0:03
9)	Don't Make Me Choose	More Info...	0:03
10)	Under You	More Info...	0:03
11)	Unhinged	More Info...	0:04
12)	Comfortable	More Info...	0:04

Album: Last Year Was Complicated
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Voodoo	More Info...	0:03
2)	Champagne Problems	More Info...	0:03
3)	Close (Feat. Tove Lo)	More Info...	0:04
4)	Chainsaw	More Info...	0:03
5)	Touch	More Info...	0:03
6)	Bacon (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)	More Info...	0:03
7)	Good Girls (Feat. Big Sean)	More Info...	0:04
8)	The Difference	More Info...	0:03
9)	Don't Make Me Choose	More Info...	0:03
10)	Under You	More Info...	0:03
11)	Unhinged	More Info...	0:04
12)	Comfortable	More Info...	0:04

Performer Notes

Recording information: Chumba Meadows, Tarzana, CA; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, CA; D.O.E. Studios; Jungle City, New York, NY; MXM Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Strip Wax Studios; the Record Plant, Hollywood, CA; Wolf Cousins Studios, Stockholm.
Photographer: Yu Tsai .
Last year may have been complicated for Nick Jonas -- at the very least, he separated from his girlfriend Olivia Culpo in the summer of 2015 -- but Last Year Was Complicated feels assured in a way its eponymous 2014 predecessor did not. Nick Jonas refashioned the former Jonas Brother as a mature artist, a singer whose sensibilities now adhered to sensual R&B and slick club music. Produced in part with some of the same collaborators as the 2014 LP -- Jason Evigan maintains a large role, as does Sir Nolan -- Last Year Was Complicated uses the hits "Chains" and "Jealous" as touchstones, expanding their cool, glassy shimmer to songs of heartbreak, doubt, and loss. Wisely, Jonas and his collaborators decide not to lean too hard on Nick's vocals: his appeal lies not in his range, but his thin vulnerability, a quality that tends to humanize the steely gloss of the production. Beneath the sheets of sound, Jonas seems sensitive, a sensibility that carries over even into the heavy club bangers "Voodoo" and "Champagne Problems," lending them a little lightness. Still, he flourishes on the unabashed pop numbers -- specifically "Under You," written in part with Max Martin -- and the ballads, where this quivering capacity for masculine heartbreak is pushed to the forefront. "Close," a duet with Tove Lo, is perhaps the best showcase for this aspect of Nick Jonas, but the entirety of Last Year Was Complicated walks a fine line between immaculately produced pop confection and personal confession: it may not be heartbreaking but it feels as if it comes from the heart. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[H]is supple falsetto, sounding wounded or seductive as required, allows him to stake out his own patch of territory on the border between pop and R&B."

Pitchfork (Website) - "'Touch' is a skirting folktronica track, shifting from guitars and dubs as Jonas smoothly whispers sweet nothings. 'Unhinged' showcasese Jonas' ability to craft a solid ballad once the 808s and synths are stripped away."