The Jonas Brothers are back and, dare I say, better than ever. After a six-year hiatus, the former teen-heartthrob trio has reunited to take the world by storm once again, beginning with their new single, “Sucker.”
Real-life brothers Kevin, Nick, and Joe Jonas have matured from their Teen Disney, “Camp Rock” days, and their sound has as well. “Sucker” captures some of the best musical elements of the eclectic, electro-funk-pop melange of Joe’s erstwhile band, DNCE, and age and puberty have given a welcome scuff to Nick’s once cherubic vocals.
Nevertheless, the single is quintessential Jonas Brothers. An ebullient earworm with clap-inducing syncopated breakdowns; boy band-style, high-note harmonies; a funky, hopscotching baseline; and just few enough lyrics that you know the words by the second listen, “Sucker” hits all the right notes for a pop smash-hit and is the earliest likely candidate for song of the summer.
And while the track itself is good, the music video is a triumph.
Directed by veteran filmmaker Anthony Mandler and shot on the palatial estate of England’s Hatfield House, the music video has some typical genre elements: putting the band at a fancy location, in fancy clothes, enjoying leisurely pursuits in the company of beautiful women. In this case, however, the beautiful women are none other than the brothers’ partners — Danielle Jonas (nee Deleasa; Kevin’s wife and reality show personality), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (of “Quantico” and Bollywood fame and Nick’s wife), and Sophie Turner (“Game of Thrones” star and Joe’s fiance) — who frolic and feast and generally run the show. It’s an inspired decision, allowing the video to indulge in some of the classic, hypersexualized music video tropes even while inverting and mocking them.
After an opening shot of the manse grounds, we cut to an inner hall as the opening bars of the song begin, with Nick, Joe, and Kevin playing at microphones. Turner and Danielle Jonas look on in judgment, observing the performance from behind sunglasses and colorful scarves, luxuriating on teal lawn chairs surrounded by a puddle of dogs. Chopra Jonas enters shortly thereafter, a bright bundle of pearls and golden taffeta, lustily eyeing Nick before gliding on past toward the other women.
And it only gets weirder from there.
It’s an absurd spectacle with genuine heart, somehow both palpably sexy and oddly wholesome. “Sucker” is a simple pop song: light, cliche, syrupy sweet. The video is almost something else, a celebration of life and color, real family engaging in ridiculous fantasy (in the director’s cut, there’s a “Beetlejuice”-style dance break during a great hall dinner party).
But the single is the just the beginning. The trio just announced a new, behind-the-scenes documentary project with Amazon Studios, and while currently unconfirmed, a new album and tour are surely imminent as well.
It’s the “Year 2019,” the boys are back, and we’re doin’ fine.
