DNCE’s new album proves to be dance-friendly, yet repetitive.
By: Ally Melnik
“I keep on hoping we’ll eat cake by the ocean.” These lyrics from DNCE’s “Cake By The Ocean” were stuck in millions of people’s heads over the past year. But now the time has finally come for DNCE’s debut self-titled album, which released recently on Nov. 18.
DNCE consists of four members: singer Joe Jonas, guitarist JinJoo Lee, bassist Cole Whittle, and drummer Jack Lawless. The band formed in 2015, releasing “Cake By The Ocean” in September. Jonas, Lee, and Lawless had all known each other for a decade, and while working on “Cake By The Ocean,” they met Whittle and officially started DNCE.
In an interview with iHeartRadio, Jonas said that the band is named DNCE after its first song on the album, which talks about being too intoxicated to correctly spell “dance.” He also added that “[DNCE] just kind of describes the imperfect awesome[ness] of [them] together.”
The band has built a solid foundation of fans from its single “Body Moves” from their new album, as well as its previous EP “Swaay.” DNCE’s last EP included three songs that are now on its album (“Cake By The Ocean,” “Pay My Rent,” and “Toothbrush”) as well as one song that never made the cut, “Jinx.”
With that being said, DNCE isn’t off to a bad start. Most of the songs in its album consist of an instant toe-tapping, head-bobbing beat. Songs like “DNCE” and “Blown” insist on at least swaying methodically to the music. The album also consists of some changes in pace with a few acoustic songs like “Almost” and “Truthfully.” But all include the inclination to dance, which is the band’s ultimate goal.
However, there are a lot of moments when one is questioning why the band put that in there. For instance, as much as teenage girls reminisce over the heartthrob that is Joe Jonas, his constant use of falsetto will shatter their hearts from the high frequency. And although the band is known for writing songs about dancing, partying, relationships, and such, that is what all their songs are about. With exceptions like “Good Day” and “Unsweet,” others repeat the same themes over and over again in slightly different keys and tempos.
Overall, DNCE’s self-titled album is decent. Already famous hits like “Cake By The Ocean” and “Body Moves” offset less popular songs such as “Doctor You” or “Zoom,” while still remaining dance-friendly—lovers of pop and dance music will exhaust themselves from constantly dancing. The album can be found on iTunes and Google Play, as well as in stores for $10.99.