Late Night Feelings: Mark Ronson’s New Album of ‘Sad Bangers’
Mark ronson wants you to Have
a good dance and a cry
Late Night Feelings. We’ve all had them. Missing someone, formulating unrealistic scenarios, feeling utterly and irrevocably alone. These feelings are often glossed over in mainstream music. They are either forgotten or explored superficially, in ways you don’t really need to think, or feel. Mark Ronson’s new album, Late Night Feelings, makes you feel those late night feelings in a way that is both unforgettable and refreshingly honest. It forces you to think and remember. The fifth studio record from the British producer transcends genre and redefines itself with 13 tracks of “sad bangers,” as Ronson described them. LNF is simultaneously elusive and straightforward, pulling the listener close, as if to say these stories belong to you.
“We were alone, we were to blame / Alive with the same blood in our veins” starts off the verse of “True Blue,” settling us dead-smack in the middle of the dance floor at Club Heartbreak.
The fifth album from the Grammy- and Golden Globe-winning artist/producer/songwriter, released June 21, features a roster of strictly female artists, almost unheard-of in such a male-centric industry. What’s more is the range of artists Ronson with whom worked. The album features global pop sensations like Camila Cabello, Miley Cyrus, and Alicia Keys, but the real beauty lies with the alternative artists, namely Angel Olson, Lykke Li, and King Princess. Songs like “True Blue” and “2 AM” are the most heart-wrenching tracks on the album. “We were alone, we were to blame / Alive with the same blood in our veins” starts off the verse of “True Blue,” settling us dead-smack in the middle of the dance floor at Club Heartbreak. “2 AM,” the closest thing to a ballad on the album, retells a familiar story of walking back to someone who isn’t willing to commit to you. We are brought to a dim bedroom where expectations are high and the truth is concealed. The album, at once beautiful and melancholic, is all about relentless vulnerability. It seems to tell us that while love is painful and complicated, it is also a life-line. Ronson has outdone himself.