MUSIC: Maroon 5 - Maps

I am a massive Maroon 5 right from 'Songs About Jane'. I didn't really start listening to them properly until a couple of years ago where I bought all their albums and became well and truly obsessed with their music (healthy obsessed, I promise ;) ) . Anyway, last week (16th June) they released their new single 'Maps'. As to be expected I listened to it straight away.

On first listen, I wasn't that impressed, especially when I knew that Ryan Tedder had worked on the song too (we all know how much I love Mr. Tedder). It just seemed mediocre to me and I didn't fall in love with it like I do most of their songs. For me, I just thought that Adam Levine as a vocalist could do so much better than what the song allowed him to and that the band was better than the song.

This is the reason why I didn't post my thoughts immediately. I wanted to make sure that my first impression was my real and firm thoughts, so I gave the song a chance. I still believe that Maroon 5 can do a lot better. However, the song has grown on me and I do really like 'Maps'.The song is about searching for a past flame. I like the slightly reggae sound and relaxed approach the song starts with. It has that effortlessly California cool aspect to it, which I really love as it reminds me of summer. The song then builds into this chorus which is much more uptempo adding another dimension which just makes you want to dance, and sometimes that's all you want from a song, right? Despite the dance sound of the chorus, I also think that 'Maps' is quite unique in that there isn't a lot out at the moment that is similar.

It's hardly surprising that Maroon 5 have gone down a more reggae and relaxed sound as I get the feeling that Adam was hinting at this for the last few seasons of The Voice. It's still a good continuation from 'Overexposed' (the bands previous album) as it still contains that dance element which the album had. Overall, I think the song takes a different approach for Maroon 5 and its taking them in a new direction, which is probably why it was so surprising. Every band has to grow and experiment, right? So, why can't Maroon 5? Its not my favourite release of theirs but I still think that its a good track and better than a lot of songs in the charts. I'm incredibly excited for their 'V' album and still think there is lots of potential for the album to be incredible. There's no doubt that 'Maps' is a great summer anthem.

Check out the lyric video for Maroon 5's Maps below:

Are you surprised by Maroon 5's latest single? Leave a comment below.
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