Maroon 5 - Red Pill Blues

Red Pill Blues finds Maroon 5 in full glossy pop mode, a sleek, groove-heavy record that delivered some of the biggest singles of their later career.

Released in 2017 through 222 and Interscope, the band's sixth album borrowed its title from the red pill of The Matrix and was the first to feature multi-instrumentalist Sam Farrar as an official member. Adam Levine described it as a cousin to their debut, Songs About Jane, and its smooth blend of pop, R&B and tropical rhythm produced a run of major hit singles. The cover, with the band snapped through face-warping phone filters, is pure late-2010s.

This single LP carries the ten-track standard edition. "What Lovers Do" with SZA bounces on a breezy, sunlit hook, "Wait" builds tension over a sparse, pulsing beat, and "Girls Like You" swells into a mid-tempo anthem. The album closes with "Closure", an eleven-minute jam that lets the musicians stretch out far beyond radio length.

Guests including A$AP Rocky, Julia Michaels and LunchMoney Lewis add colour, but Levine's falsetto stays the star throughout.

It is a polished, playful listen that sounds great on a weekend afternoon, and a natural fit for anyone who grew up on the band's radio hits.