Maroon 5
's eighth studio album, 2025's
Love Is Like
, nicely underscores their reputation as purveyors of sleek and dancey, falsetto-steeped soul-pop. It's a vibe they've made their calling card since at least the late 2010s after "Moves Like Jagger" elevated them into the upper echelon of global fame. Since then, they've adopted a broader stylistic approach, experimenting with electronic music, hip-hop, and sundry sugary pop trends. In some ways,
is a return to the core soul and R&B influences that marked the band's early albums, a change that finds singer
Adam Levine
and bassist
Sam Farrar
largely taking the productions reins, along with contributions by
JKash
,
Federico Vindver
Elof Loelv
Bobby Love
, and
Rio Root
. The group also wrote a handful of the songs together for the first time in many album cycles. All of this lends the record a unified vibe that feels considerably more pared down than some of their previous guest- and track-heavy productions. Cuts like the opening "Hideaway," the clubby "All Night," and "My Love" have a vinyl-era throwback quality, evoking the classic '70s blue-eyed soul that
initially based their own groove-oriented anthems around. Even when they do join forces with guests, including
Lil Wayne
on the title track and
Sexyy Red
on the early-'90s hip-hop-infused "Love Is Like," they achieve a buoyantly organic, feel-good energy. Most prominent is "Priceless" a flirty jam with
BlackPink
's
LISA
that finds the band believably fusing a 2020s K-pop hookiness with the organic club-soul of their classic
Songs About Jane
era. ~ Matt Collar