Overexposed

About

As brash as it i, the title of Maroon 5’s fourth album is perfect for a band that sounds like it knows exactly what it’s out to achieve. After 2010’s <i>Hands All Over</i> met a relatively modest reception, the Californian pop-rock act reversed its trajectory with the help of two decisive shifts in strategy. One was Levine’s decision to try his luck as a TV-competition show judge on <i>The Voice</i> with persuasive result. The other was enlisting songwriters outside the band for the first time—in this case, benny blanco, Ammar Malik, and Shellback for 2011's “Moves Like Jagger.” The song demonstrated the tactic’s wisdom by becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time. Like that smash hit, the songs on <i>Overexposed</i> demonstrates the band's drive to have their music blasting out of car stereo, beach clubs and spin studios all over the planet. To accomplish this task, the band adds the likes of Ryan Tedder and Robopop to its roster of top-flight hitmaker. Of course, the most formidable ringer is Max Martin; besides serving as the album’s executive producer, Sweden’s king of pop adds high polish and maximum propulsion to contributions such as “One More Night” and “Daylight.” Although Rihanna’s not among the album’s many special guest, Levine cites her as another big influence on the songs here, a fact made clear by the anthemic fusion of electro-pop and sleek, R&B-infused dance music on “Payphone” and “Love Somebody,” which became two of the four Top 10 singles on <i>Overexposed</i>. .

via Apple Music

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