Outta This World

JLS demonstrates stylistic flexibility

Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, Jonathan "JB" Gill, and Oritsй Williams – these names are known to any girl in Great Britain and many girls in other countries of the world. The band JLS these young men make up has become a runner-up of the X Factor’s season, the winner being Alexandra Burke, and one of the young generation main boys-bands. Jay-Z himself told that the band was about to be as famous as ‘N Sync, and the eponymous debut album's incredible success was the first real sign that the rapper’s forecast could come true. The album became four times platinum in the UK, its six songs were released as an EP in the USA, and the band has already won a number of prestigious awards. This year JLS is ready to please the audience with its sophomore effort which is called Outta This World. This record find the band experimenting with a danceable music and electronic sound, characteristic of club hits, on the whole expanding its abilities and demonstrating stylistic flexibility.

A dynamic album Outta This World

None of the fourteen tracks on the album Outta This World reaches four minutes of length, which is why the record is listened to at one single breath. The order of compositions adds to the dynamics – a sequence of danceable songs comes at the beginning, and these are real house-tracks without which no party this winter can be imagined. They are the first single The Club Is Alive, a playful composition Eyes Wide Shut and the title track – a bright, loud, active opening. Further on R&B-numbers and ballads are alternating, and some more serious thoughts appear in the lyrics the main theme certainly being love. Thus, the songs That's My Girl, Work and I Know What She Like are remarkable for memorable tunes, arrangements filled with cosmic electronic sounds and JLS members’ expressive vocals. The ballads Love You More and Other Side of the World will not leave any of the girls indifferent, for they are filled with feelings which sound both in individual high notes and in all the guys’ choir singing. The faultless production on the track Superhero, a recipe of getting to know a girl, makes it a worthy contender for Usher and Pharrell Williams’ club hits, while the song Don't Talk About Love is a means to get distracted from unpleasant thoughts about the departure with the beloved. Piano is playing the main theme on another soulful ballad That's Where I'm Coming From, and The Last Song is a great album closer leaving the listeners with a slight feeling of sadness because the party is over and everyone is supposed to go home.

A very high level of performance

It has never been easy to remain seated during JLS’ live performances as their songs on the first album are very vigorous and full of energy but the first three tracks on Outta This World make it even harder. Due to the contribution of such renowned producers as Steve Mac, Wayne Hector and others, club hits have been added to the band’s repertoire, which has made its key audience a bit wider. The rest of the album Outta This World has much in common with its predecessor but the new melodies witness the musicians’ evident professional growth. Their vocal parts on such compositions as Other Side of the World and That's Where I'm Coming From deserve admiration; the guys are really demonstrating a very high level of performance. Thus, despite the old boys-bands, such as Take That and Westlife, actively making themselves heard this year JLS’ second album has by no means remained unnoticed. It has become the second on the best albums chart in Great Britain being next to the record Progress only, the fact telling about all Outta This World’s merits better than any words.