“Aurora”- Daisy Jones & The Six Album Review

Opinion posted March 13, 2023 in Arts & Entertainment by Kaitlyn Murphy.

To the casual listener, Daisy Jones & The Six might sound like a new wave rock band taking inspiration from 70s legends like Fleetwood Mac or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

In some ways, that’s the truth, but the album “Aurora” goes much deeper and has been highly anticipated since…well, before the band even formed.

Daisy Jones & The Six is unfortunately not a real band– it is made up of six actors from the Amazon Prime original show “Daisy Jones & The Six”, which is based on Taylor Jenkins-Reid’s hit novel of the same name.

The book and show both center around this fictional band, loosely based on Fleetwood Mac, and the relationship between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

It’s definitely a lot to take in at first.

In the original novel, Reid wrote lyrics for The Six’s album “Aurora,” and put them at the end of the book. Naturally, fans wanted to hear the songs recorded.

They got their wish, but only to an extent.

Three of the original song titles were kept from the books, but the lyrics were completely changed. Reid has stated she’s okay with the alterations since she’s an author, not a songwriter, but it is a bit disappointing that none of the original material from the book was utilized on “Aurora”.

However, that’s not to say it’s an unimpressive album by any means. “Aurora” was produced by Grammy-nominated musician Blake Mills, and written by a large team of songwriters– including Marcus Mumford and Phoebe Bridgers.

Since the show is based in the 70s, “Aurora” serves as an ode to the decade of peace, love and rock ‘n roll.

The opening track, “Aurora”, grabs the listener with an intense drumbeat and stellar electric guitar and never let's go.

Lead singers Daisy (Riley Keough) and Billy (Sam Claflin) have voices that seem to be made for each other.

Keough’s is bright and solid (not unlike the voice of her grandfather, Elvis Presley), while Claflin’s is raspy with a sharp edge to it. They somehow both contrast and complement each other at the same time, just like Daisy and Billy’s personalities in the book.

The second track titled “Let Me Down Easy” has a chorus that sounds deeply reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”, but differentiates itself enough to be separated.

A key change at the two-and-a-half-minute mark simply puts the song over the edge of greatness and is one of the strongest on the album.

The obvious standouts on “Aurora” are the two singles– “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” and “Regret Me”. Both were in the book, and are incredibly impactful even with the lyrics changed.

“Look At Us Now” was the first song Daisy Jones & The Six recorded together in the studio, and Daisy changed the chorus from “Oh, I know we can get it all back” to “Oh, we can make a good thing bad.”

Obviously, Daisy’s lyrics are better and became the title of the song.

“Look At Us Now” somehow just sounds like the book– it’s cinematic and subtly samples “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, creating the perfect lead single for the band.

“Regret Me” is a lyrical beast, with the first chorus going “You regret me, and I regret you / You couldn’t handle your liquor and you can’t seem to handle the truth.”

Is “the truth” that Billy begins to develop feelings for Daisy despite being a married man with a daughter? It’s highly likely.

The album slows down on the fourth track, “Two Against Three,” a soft ballad sung solely by Keough.

Her voice is versatile enough to fit both rock anthems and heartfelt ballads, and the song is a nice break from the upbeat aura of “Aurora.”

Some viewers of the show that also listened to “Aurora” have claimed that it sounds too modern to be a 70s rock album and that older equipment should have been utilized.

However, it’s almost impossible to ignore the recording technology available today, especially for an Amazon Studios show.

The modern sound doesn’t diminish the vibes of “Aurora”, as the voices of Claflin and Keough joined with the incredible accompanying music cement it as a solid installment in the small collection of albums made for TV shows.

Rating: 8/10

Reviewer’s Favorite Songs: “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb),” “The River,” “Let Me Down Easy”

Reviewer’s Least Favorite Songs: “More Fun To Miss,” “No Words”

Kaitlyn Murphy is a first-year majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact her, email kvm6255@psu.edu.