Nick Jonas’ “Levels” Single: Review Revue
Ever since his debut album release last winter, a grown-up Nick Jonas has been one of the more exciting pop stars to watch for 2015. The artist continues his winning streak with his new follow-up single, “Levels,” which premiered today (August 21).
In our post for the song, we stated: “If all clicks correctly with radio across the country, ‘Levels’ should dominate the forthcoming fall months the way “Jealous” did this past winter. And, who knows — we could even see Nick catapulted to Justin Timberlake-like, um, levels…a feat that, in a way, feels has been long overdue.”
So how do other music industry critics feel about Nick Jonas’ new single? Read what they had to say down below!
:: Billboard said this: “The danceable track combines a synthy pop beat with Jonas’ skillful falsetto that will make you want to be on his level the second he says to “Get on my elevator” at the song’s beginning”
:: MTV News is also a fan: “‘Levels’ fuses funk with a club beat, layering the former Jonas Brother’s vocals with his spiraling falsetto ad-libs. It’s a quick, under-three-minute tune, but it’s enough to inject you with a little party, if you need it.”
:: While DirectLyrics called it a “bop”: “It’s got a vintage house-dance kind of beat that is so addictive and so tailored to sound fresh and ‘today’ and that is super club-friendly, Nick delivers both impressive high and low notes – showing off amazing control when mixing them up, and overall “Levels” sounds like new a bona-fide smash for the Jonas brother.”
:: SPIN compared Nick to a certain former *NSYNC member: “…think how Timberlake himself went from Justified, a statement of professional intent separate from his ‘Bye Bye Bye’ days, directly into the sexier, slicker, years ahead of its time FutureSex/LoveSounds. “Levels” finds Jonas professing to climb higher with the object of his affection, forsaking what anyone else thinks in the pursuit of happiness and — let’s be honest — pleasure.”
:: PopJustice was more critical: “‘Levels’ is not as good as ‘Jealous (Tinashe remix)’. It doesn’t actually sound as good as ‘Under You’ either. But it is still 300% better than any reasonable person might have expected a Nick Jonas single to be at this point in his career so at the end of the day ladies and gentlemen music is the real winner here.”
:: PopCrush also shared their thoughts: “‘Levels’ falls just under three minutes, but you wouldn’t guess it. With an overly repetitive chorus it drags a bit toward the end, but the track was tailor-made for eventual club remixes, and the syncopated pre-chorus is killer enough for us to ignore any missteps here.”
:: Lastly, Vulture thinks it’s “kind of a banger”: “That’s, of course, if you can tell it apart from Austin Mahone’s equally ’80s synth-inspired dance track ‘Dirty Work,’ and also ignore that Meek Mill coined ‘It’s levels to this shit’ two years ago. Brace yourselves, we’ve reached Nick’s Michael Jackson phase. Awkward dance moves still to come.”
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