Spaceman (Nick Jonas album)

Spaceman is the fourth studio album by American singer Nick Jonas, released on March 12, 2021, through Island.^[1] The album marks the first solo release of the singer since Last Year Was Complicated (2016) and the first solo project to be released since the reunion of the Jonas Brothers (with his older brothers Joe and Kevin) in 2019. The deluxe edition of the album was released on March 15, 2021, three days after the release of the standard edition. It features a sole guest appearance from the Jonas Brothers, who appear on the track "Selfish", with Joe providing vocals and Kevin playing guitar on the song.

Spaceman
Studio album by Nick Jonas
Released	March 12, 2021 (2021-03-12)
Studio	No Expectations Studios (Los Angeles, California)
Length	35:31
Label	Island
Producer	Greg Kurstin
Nick Jonas chronology
Last Year Was Complicated (2016) Spaceman (2021)
Singles from Spaceman
"Spaceman" Released: February 25, 2021 "This Is Heaven" Released: March 4, 2021

Background

Jonas first dropped hints about his upcoming album on his social media in early February 2021.^[2] On February 20, 2021, it was announced that he would appear on Saturday Night Live on February 27 to perform his new single.^[3][4] The singer officially kicked off the era on February 25 by releasing the lead single, the title track.^[5] The lyrics were widely considered to be about the COVID-19 pandemic.^[5][6] When asked about the title during an interview with Zane Lowe, he explained, "The key for me was trying to find a way to give this idea a persona, give it a name. So 'Spaceman' kind of came into my mind as I was thinking, 'What's the one thing that all of us have felt during this time? Completely disconnected from the world."^[7] Regarding the recording process of the album, he revealed, "I made this album while doing what most of us have been doing this past year, sitting at home and hoping for better days ahead". Thematically, the album explores four themes: distance, indulgence, euphoria and commitment.^[8] The second and final single, "This Is Heaven", was released on March 4. On March 14, Jonas announced that the deluxe version of the record would be released the following day. This version includes the songs "Dangerous", "Selfish" (featuring the Jonas Brothers) as well as "Chill Versions" of the songs "Don't Give Up on Us", "2Drunk", and "This Is Heaven."^[9] On March 18, the deluxe video album was released.^[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	61/100^[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
auspOp	^[12]
Clash	7/10^[13]
i	^[14]
The Independent	^[15]
Pitchfork	5.8/10^[16]
PopMatters	6/10^[17]

Spaceman garnered positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 6 reviews.^[11]

Robin Murray of Clash wrote that despite the sonic influences being too obvious throughout the record, he praised its honest lyricism and effective jams, singling out "Don't Give Up On Us" for being one of Jonas' "best solo performances to date", concluding that: "One of his most rounded and adult statements to date, 'Spaceman' is certainly worth exploring - as lockdown hobbies go, it's up there with banana bread as one of the most tasteful."^[13] PopMatters contributor Jeffrey Davies commended Kurstin's production for being "captivating and refined" and Jonas being able to sell the album's theme of isolation, but felt the lyrical content comes across as "immature and tone-deaf" when compared to the title track, saying that "he has the ability to be audibly subversive and memorable, delivering sounds that could easily transport the pop music fan to an imaginary dancefloor. It’s just the words that still need some work, perhaps by beginning to hold male pop stars to a bit of a higher standard."^[17] Oliva Horn of Pitchfork wrote that: "[T]he album's interstellar concept is interesting enough to get it off the ground, but too quickly Jonas retreats to his domestic comforts, without really probing the relationship that so inspires him, or charting any new territory in the pop universe. It's hard to imagine anyone who wasn't already a Nick Jonas fan playing this album on repeat. His brand may sell, but this music is less desirable."^[16]

Track listing

Spaceman track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Don't Give Up On Us"	Nicholas Jonas Greg Kurstin Maureen "Mozella" McDonald	Kurstin	3:22
2.	"Heights"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:37
3.	"Spaceman"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:17
4.	"2Drunk"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:12
5.	"Delicious"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	2:58
6.	"This Is Heaven"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:35
7.	"Sexual"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:36
8.	"Deeper Love"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald Michael Jones	Kurstin	2:55
9.	"If I Fall"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:59
10.	"Death Do Us Part"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	2:09
11.	"Nervous"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	2:55
Total length:				35:35

Spaceman – Digital deluxe edition^[18]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Selfish" (featuring Jonas Brothers)	N. Jonas Kevin Jonas Jason Evigan Jordan K. Johnson Marcus Lomax Ryan Tedder Stefan Johnson	Evigan The Monsters & Strangerz	3:07
13.	"Dangerous"	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:31
14.	"Don't Give Up On Us" (chill version)	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:24
15.	"2Drunk" (chill version)	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:19
16.	"This Is Heaven" (chill version)	Jonas Kurstin McDonald	Kurstin	3:39
Total length:				52:37

Spaceman – Deluxe video album^[19]

No.	Title	Length
17.	"This Is Heaven" (music video)	3:53
18.	"Spaceman" (music video)	4:15
19.	"2Drunk" (lyric video)	3:12
20.	"This Is Heaven" (lyric video)	3:34
21.	"Spaceman" (lyric video)	3:17
Total length:		71:00

Spaceman – Target edition^[20]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Heights" (chill version)	3:33
13.	"Nervous" (chill version)	3:01

Classics Edition

On March 11, 2021, a day before the official album released, the Classics Edition of the record was released online. It contains the complete Spaceman tracks and the singles "Chains", "Jealous", "Levels" and "Close" featuring Swedish singer Tove Lo.^[21]

All tracks are written by Nick Jonas, Greg Kurstin and Maureen "Mozella" McDonald except for track 10, "Deeper Love", which was also co-written by Mick Jones and the four previous released singles

Spaceman – Classics Edition^[22][23]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Don't Give Up On Us"			3:21
2.	"Heights"			3:37
3.	"Spaceman"			3:17
4.	"Close" (featuring Tove Lo)	Robin Fredriksson, Mattias Larsson, Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter, Tove Nilsson	Mattman & Robin^[24]	3:54
5.	"2Drunk"			3:12
6.	"Delicious"			2:58
7.	"Levels"	Sean Douglas, Stefan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Ian Kirkpatrick, Sam Martin, Talay Riley, Jordan Johnson	Ian Kirkpatrick, The Monsters and the Strangerz	2:47
8.	"This Is Heaven"			3:34
9.	"Sexual"			3:35
10.	"Deeper Love"			2:55
11.	"Jealous"	Nick Jonas, Nolan Lambroza, Simon Wilcox	Nolan Lambroza	3:42
12.	"Chains"	Jason Evigan, Ammar Malik, Danny Parker	Jason Evigan	3:23
13.	"If I Fall"			3:58
14.	"Death Do Us Part"			2:09
15.	"Nervous"			2:55
Total length:				49:22

Personnel

Track numbers refer to the deluxe edition.

Musicians Nick Jonas – vocals (all tracks), programming (1), keyboards (4), piano (7), guitar (12) Greg Kurstin – drums, keyboards, programming (1–11, 13); guitar (1, 4–6, 8–10), percussion (1–11), piano (1, 4, 8, 9), acoustic guitar, bass (3); electric sitar (7) Priyanka Chopra-Jonas – background vocals (2) Davion Farris – background vocals (6–8) Jackie Gouche – background vocals (6–8) Mozella – background vocals (9) Joe Jonas – vocals (12) Kevin Jonas – guitar (2) Jason Evigan – background vocals, bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, percussion, programming (12) Ryan Tedder – background vocals (12) The Monsters & Strangerz – drums, keyboards, percussion, programming (12)

Technical Randy Merrill – mastering engineer Serban Ghenea – mixer (1–11, 13), vocal mixer (14–16) Josh Gudwin – mixer (12) Alex Ghenea – mixer (14–16) John Hanes – mix engineer (1–11, 13–16) Greg Kurstin – recording engineer (1–11, 13–16) Julian Berg – recording engineer (1–11, 13–16) Gian Stone – recording engineer, vocal producer (12) Jason Evigan – recording engineer, vocal producer (12) The Monsters & Strangerz – vocal producer (12) Wendy Wang – remixer (14–16) Heidi Wang – assistant mixer (12)

Charts

Chart performance for Spaceman

Chart (2021)	Peak position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[25]	55
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[26]	27
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[27]	74
UK Albums (OCC)^[28]	69
US Billboard 200^[29]	12
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)^[30]	8

References

1. Shaffer, Claire (February 25, 2021). "Nick Jonas Announces New Album 'Spaceman,' Shares Title Track". Rolling Stone. from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
2. Jonas, Nick [@nickjonas] (February 8, 2021). "Hard times make you love the view..." (Tweet). Retrieved February 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
3. Peters, Mitchell (February 20, 2021). "Nick Jonas Teases New Single 'Spaceman' Ahead of 'SNL' Hosting and Performance Gig". Billboard. from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
4. Rasha, Ali (February 20, 2021). "Nick Jonas will be both hosting and performing on 'SNL' next week". USA Today. from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
5. Curto, Justin (February 25, 2021). "Nick Jonas's New Song 'Spaceman' Sure Sounds Like It's About COVID". Vulture. from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
6. Atad, Corey (February 25, 2021). . ET Canada. Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
7. Droke, Carolyn (February 25, 2021). "Nick Jonas Is Expanding His Solo Career With The Upcoming Album 'Spaceman'". Uproxx. from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
8. Jonas, Nick [@nickjonas] (February 25, 2021). "So excited to start this journey with all of you. I made this album while doing what most of us have been doing this past year, sitting at home and hoping for better days ahead. There are four themes we will explore on the album... Distance. Indulgence. Euphoria. Commitment" (Tweet). Retrieved February 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
9. Iasimone, Ashley (March 15, 2021). "Nick Jonas Announces Deluxe Version of 'Spaceman' With New Jonas Brothers Song". Billboard. from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
10. "Spaceman (Deluxe Video Album)". Apple Music. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
11. "Critic Reviews for Spaceman by Nick Jonas". Metacritic. from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
12. . auspOp. March 21, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
13. Murray, Robin (March 12, 2021). "Nick Jonas - Spaceman | Review". Clash. from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
14. Solomon, Kate (March 12, 2021). "Nick Jonas, Spaceman, review: pleasant 1975-lite that doesn't leave much of a mark". i. from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
15. Brown, Helen (March 12, 2021). "Nick Jonas review, Spaceman: Comfortingly moreish mid-tempo pop". The Independent. from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
16. Horn, Olivia (March 16, 2021). "Nick Jonas: Spaceman Album Review". Pitchfork. from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
17. Davies, Jeffrey (March 15, 2021). "Nick Jonas Seeks Contact on 'Spaceman'". PopMatters. from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
18. "Credits / Spaceman (Deluxe) / Nick Jonas". Tidal. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
19. "Nick Jonas – Spaceman Deluxe Video Album". iTunes. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
20. "Nick Jonas – Spaceman Target Exclusive". Target. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
21. . iTunes. Archived from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
22. . iTunes. Archived from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
23. "Nick Jonas – Spaceman Classics Edition". Spotify. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
24. "Nick Jonas Releases New Song Close (feat. Tove Lo) - E! Online". E! Online. March 25, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
25. "Nick Jonas Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
26. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
27. "Spanishcharts.com – Nick Jonas – Spaceman". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
28. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
29. "Nick Jonas Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
30. "Nick Jonas Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2021.