Angelica Babiera | Arts Editor
Featured image: Nation of Two presents themes of love, heartbreak, and passion. | Courtesy of Justin Bettman
“I’m so gone / Anyone could see that I’m wasted / You cut through / And I just wanna know what’s in your head,” sang Vance Joy in “Lay It On Me,” the lead single in his Nation of Two album. The song was released on July 12, while the complete 13-song album just released this past February.
The Australian singer-songwriter, whose real name is James Keogh, explained what the album is about: “Nation of Two describes a perfectly self-contained couple; their world beginning and ending in the bed they share, the car they ride in, or any other place where they’re together.”
Nation of Two continues the personal attributions to Joy’s own experiences with love, heartbreak, and passion, which is evident in his previous album, Dream Your Life Away. The opening song, “Call If You Need Me,” starts off with guitar picking that is reminiscent of the picking in John Mayer’s “Stop This Train.”
The ballad focuses on the love the narrator has for another, wishing that the person could reciprocate the same kind of love. While the acoustics, synthesized violin, and the choir of melodic “oohs” in the background give a feel of nostalgia, Joy’s distinct voice gives life to the heartbreak of waiting to be loved back.
Following “Call If You Need Me,” is “Lay It On Me,” which focuses on the point in a relationship where both partners are trying to open up to one another. The upbeat, clappable track sheds light on the struggle one has when being vulnerable with someone; however, Joy presents this challenge with hope, in which the narrator eagerly wants to know everything about his or her partner, because of how much they love them.
“We’re Going Home” is the third song in the album, touching on the importance of communication and investing in love through intelligence and kindness, rather than on physical appearance.
There’s no doubt that the album is catchy and relaxing, much like what Alex Colle, a fifth-year Theatre undergraduate, says: “Just in time for spring, Nation of Two offers everything I wanted out of Vance Joy in the new album: upbeat and fun tunes, featuring generous amounts of sunny horns and warm acoustics, paired with the usual optimistic lyrics he offers in his work.”
In Nation of Two, there’s a recurring theme of investing for a better relationship. He stresses the importance of this, emphasizing lost time and the heartbreak the wrong kind of love can bring.
However, his lyrics are mediocre—much like in Dream Your Life Away, where his songs don’t differentiate much to that of other upcoming artists.
Lyrics like: “Oh, Saturday Sun / I met someone / Don’t care what it costs / No ray of sunlight’s ever lost,” add no depth to the feelings of the narrator. Joy expresses his emotions to listeners by telling them, rather than showing them, which is more powerful.
Each verse and chorus seems as though he was simply trying to commercialize his album. Disappointingly, it had lacked soul and heart with each line of each track.
Joy creatively puts together a catchy album, however, he failed abstrusely with the lyrics—it’s too shallow and mediocre, and sounds as though it could blend into any other top-20 pop album, instead of the deep, meaningful albums that many singer-songwriters release.
