Interscope Records
Release Date: July 12th 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
OneRepublic– Artificial Paradise (Deluxe) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Artificial Paradise
- Hurt
- Sink Or Swim
- Last Holiday
- I Ain’t Worried
- Red Light Green Light
- Serotonin
- Singapore
- Room For You
- Stargazing
- Entr’acte
- West Coast
- Runaway
- Sunshine
- Mirage (for Assassin’s Creed Mirage) (feat. Mishaal Tamer)
- Nobody (from Kaiju No. 8)
- I Don’t Wanna Wait (with David Guetta)
- Fire (with MEDUZA & Leony)
At the end of August in 2021, I reviewed the long-awaited album from pop band OneRepublic, called Human. Comprising of 8 songs we had heard before (through various stand-alone singles released throughout the period of 2018-2021) and 8 brand new songs, Human as a whole was a compelling, emotional, honest, vulnerable, and inspiring album and one of my favourites of 2021. I won’t dive deep into OneRepublic here, because you can read about them on Wikipedia or on my review of Human or on Jon’s blog about them from a few years ago. But what I will say is that Ryan Tedder and co. blasted back on the scene in 2023 for their brand-new single “Runaway”, which released last year, and was the follow-up to their smash hit “I Ain’t Worried” (not reviewed!) and their 2022 hit “West Coast”. A song that seemed to be presumably from their next studio album (at the time of February 2022, their next studio was album due out in June 2022, tentatively titled Never Ending Summer, but now, the band has delivered their most recent album Artificial Paradise!); OneRepublic isn’t slowing down. Having already released hits like “Apologise”, “Good Life”, “Secrets”, “Counting Stars”, “Love Runs Out”, “Kids”, “I Lived”, “Come Home”, and “Stop And Stare”, as well as recent hits “Rescue Me”, “Wanted”, “Run”, “Better Days” and “Lose Somebody”; one could think that OneRepublic deserve a bit of a break. Not so. As I mentioned earlier, the group recently unveiled their most recent studio album Artificial Paradise (consisting of 18 songs, and 9 of them singles!), and this project, though not as cohesive as Human in my opinion but still pretty good, highlights to us the notion of how hard-working Ryan and his friends actually are. It’s been way too long in between albums, but the band are still here- they’re still making music and are still making people smile.
The heartbeat of the album, strangely enough. Is the title track and the album opener. Only 1 minute and 40 seconds, the intro and interlude to the 9th single “Hurt”, describes a world where the very reality of our being is questioned, and the conspiracy theory of living in a simulation is explored. Given that this outlandish sci-fi idea of us living in a ‘machine’ or an ‘artificial world’ or ‘paradise’, is being talked about and discussed, despite the viewpoints of myself (now way is it true, this reality is the only reality here on this Earth that God has blessed us with!) and others; reminds us that these theories have gained traction probably everywhere on the planet for a fair amount of time. Think The Matrix series or time-travel / sci-fi movies like Don’t Worry Darling, Ready Player One, Inception, Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind, Reminiscence, The One, Tenet, Interstellar, Arrival… or any episode of Doctor Who; the truth of the matter is that these theories gain traction simply because perhaps someone who developed these movies or things to explain the world, maybe was unhappy with how their life was going at the moment, and tried to find a logical reason why. Whatever the case as to why these alternate theories of living and thinking have resonated with people; OneRepublic have created an album based off this thought of living in a make-believe world, and conclude in this song that even if we are all just living in a simulation (and that’s a big IF!), then if it’s with ‘you’ then the persona (Ryan or any other member of the band) doesn’t even mind. And that ‘you’ can be extrapolated to a significant other, a family member, a sibling, a child, a parent, a close friend. Is the song a subtle endorsement by the band that we’re living in a ‘real sort of fake’ existence where we’re not on earth or something crazy like that? No, no, I don’t think so. Much like the entire paradigm of this album, I reckon the song speaks about deeper layers and about metaphors galore. As Ryan outlines that he longs for real connection and real friendships and relationships; I reckon in this song and the album, he’s calling out users and consumers of technology and social media, and people ‘living from their screens who have little to no real life human interaction’. I believe he’s really saying that he sees people living in the ‘fake’ world, but he longs for the real world and to get out of the ‘artificial paradise’. Am I thinking too deeply on a song that probably isn’t meant to be analysed this much? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But it does provide food for thought and healthy discussion, am I right?
The rest of Artificial Paradise speaks about feeling isolated and what to do in order to manage all of our relationships and friendships, and how to forge ahead in this world of technology and other material things vying for our attention. “Hurt”, a melancholy and moody pop melody, speaks about the persona wanting is lover to ‘hurt’ for their love, meaning that he wants their love to be that long lasting love with trials and tribulations and hurt and pain, but still long lasting, because that is how he knows that it is real and true (the bad parts of a relationship as well as the good parts!); while “Sink Or Swim” speaks about our fear of stepping out into the unknown into a new friendship or romantic relationship, not knowing if it will succeed or fail, but jumping in anyway, simply because the perceived reward is greater than the risk. “Last Holiday”, probably one of the most meaningful and hard-hitting melodies on the album, speaks about living in the tension of right now and the future- the tension of living life to the fullest right now, but also planning for a future which may or may not come, with Ryan declaring that right now we have to ‘…love who you love like that’s enough, yeah, and live while you can, but live it up, press pause and take some moments, find God before it all ends…’; while “I Ain’t Worried” is a summer-y acoustic type dance number about taking things in your stride, and living life to the fullest and enjoying the present moment- not worried about the future so much that you don’t live.
“Red Light Green Light” delves into a moment in time where the persona wants to get to know someone on a deeper level (either romantically or platonically!) and thinks they don’t have much time left, and so they want to savour each moment and bask in the presence of the other person- wanting the other person to be by their side and to ‘ride shotgun’ in their car, symbolic for their life; while “Serotonin” speaks about the difficulties to find peace and true happiness in a world that continually feeds us dopamine highs that aren’t fulfilling nor satisfying- Ryan yearns to be in a real friendship or relationship, but this song outlines that the process as to how it occurs, is difficult and murky at best. “Singapore” is a soothing strings-led instrumental melody that breaks up the album quite nicely; while the powerful and moving uplifter “Room For You” encourages us all as Ryan concludes that in a real friendship and in a real relationship, you always have room for the other person, and that you’re always in their corner, no matter what. Or if you’re trying to get to know someone, you’ll take a leap of faith and make room for them in the hope that they’ll become someone who is a true friend or a true partner. “Stargazing”, a dreamy like ethereal type melody, speaks about chasing your goals and dreams and trying to be the best you can be in whatever God has put on your heart to achieve and accomplish; while “Entr’acte” is an instrumental prelude to “West Coast”.
A track that is just as poppy as it is catchy, and a melody that speaks about celebrating the positive and optimistic things in life; Ryan and his friends have delivered to us a melody in “West Coast” that will be on our playlists for the next few months and maybe years. With the release of “West Coast”, we have that summery, breezy, pop atmosphere- a likeable song that speaks about being wild and free, and also speaks about having a good time. It’s a melody that isn’t that deep and introspective, but it’s nice to have a song that makes us forget our troubles, if not for a little bit. “West Coast” is a melody with a lot of heart, soul, inspiration, and purpose. It’s a song to turn up in the summer, and to also dwell upon when you’re feeling low. It’s a song for all seasons, and that’s the beauty of any OneRepublic song. They’re hard to hate, and the same goes for “West Coast”. It’s a pop banger that shows us the band’s identity front and centre, with the message and hope is still there. With the melody being a pick-me-up tune about living life to the fullest and soaking up the sunshine in the west coast of America, as well as being thankful for this life; we are met with a song that is carefree but a song that inspires us to be grateful for the air we’re breathing and the heartbeat in our chests. “Runaway” follows and is a melody that speaks about running away from the pressures of life and putting yourself in a bubble of fun, freedom and happiness. With the melody being a head-banging pop tune about living life to the fullest and forgetting the pressures of life if only just for a little bit, as well as being thankful for this life; this is a similar theme to “Sunshine”, a previous single. Speaking about “Sunshine”, that melody is next, and brings a big smile to my face, even if the subject matter is similar, if not the same, to “Runaway” and “West Coast”.
The Indian / Middle Eastern smash up hybrid / Bollywood theme track “Mirage”, sung with Saudi Arabian singer Mishaal Tamer, is inspired by the video game Assassin’s Creed, and features lyrical references from the game and the fictional world the characters are in. “I Don’t Wanna Wait”, recorded with producer and remixer David Guetta, is a party and celebratory anthem about living in the moment and being present in the season of life you’re in, while partying and having good vibes with friends (how hedonistic!); while “Nobody”, a song inspired by the upcoming anime series of the manga comic book series Kaiju No. 8, is a song about how the persona claims to be that special someone (either romantic or platonic) for the person their singing to. The final track on Artificial Paradise is “Fire”, the official song for UEFA EURO 2024, and sung with Italian remix duo MEDUZA and German singer Leony, and speaks about connection and the power of true friendship and companionship, as Ryan and Leony powerfully cry out that ‘…it’s a beautiful miracle, how you lift me up when I feel low, beautiful everglow, now we’re shinin’ like a sea of gold, yeah, we’re on fire tonight, like a million diamonds in the sky, and we’re lost in all the lights, here together, we’re on fire tonight…’.
In this very moment with still so much uncertainty with wars in Israel and Palestine, Ukraine and Russia, and this year being an election year in the U.S.; I’d have to say that with albums like Human to listen to, hope is still alive in the hearts of all of us, as we hang onto our humanity and our strength. While I myself are of the opinion that right now we need more and more new music to get us through, I for one agree somewhat with what Ryan Tedder mentioned in 2020, in that releasing new music while a pandemic was going on seemed a bit insensitive. Yet every artist is different- and at least there is still uplifting music around if you only know where to look. We all may not have understood why OneRepublic kept delaying Human; but as long as we can be reminded to cherish the ones you love and to chase after your dreams and whatever else is in your heart, then I am certain that we will see the light at the end of the tunnel in the coming months and years! With Artificial Paradise comprising of incredibly strong lyrics, as well as intense pop moments and bangers; there’s still life in these guys yet… and can we say that these 18 tracks mark a new chapter for these guys, and maybe signify a new lease of life for the band? Well done guys, for one of your most well-rounded albums yet! They do show us how dedicated OneRepublic are to their craft! And so, I can’t wait to hear whatever comes next! Christmas album, anyone?
5 songs to listen to: Last Holiday, I Ain’t Worried, Room For You, Sunshine, Fire
Score: 4.5/5
RIYL: Tenth Avenue North, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, The Fray, Little Mix, Pentatonix