It is really weird to be writing about anything aside from books for the Arts section, so let’s start this article with a content warning that I am a bit out of my league here. I don’t know much about music, some may say I have a bad taste in music—but it isn’t country music so it’s not THAT bad.
For those of you who don’t know, the TikTok-famous book “Daisy Jones and the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid got picked up by Amazon Prime to be a limited series. Now I haven’t watched the show yet, which I’ve been hearing some bad things about, but at least this album is a silver lining.
The book was a massive hit during the pandemic and became even more popular when celebrities like Reese Witherspoon endorsed the book in her Book Club. I have to say from a book perspective, it deserves all the attention. I absolutely adored reading this book and loved the fun narrative that Reid puts together.
Essentially, the book is about a band in the 1970s. I swear this context is important for understanding the significance of the album that I’m actually supposed to be reviewing. The band is loosely based on Fleetwood Mac and it is told in interview style some 40 years after the band has broken up. You spend the book reading about the band’s formation to its inevitable fall in spite of its fame and success. Reid got really creative with the narrative by having each of the characters piece together parts of the story from memory; she does so in a way that shows how human memory is faulty and not everyone will remember things the same way.
Throughout the book, Reid includes lyrics to songs that the band performs, including their top hits like “Aurora” and “You Regret Me.” In their adaptation of the book, Amazon Prime decided to also create the album that Reid wrote in the book. Miss ma’am not only wrote a bestseller, but she also wrote a pretty dope album. I’m not joking, like you listen to this and you would never guess that it’s not the main piece of art but just a side branch of the story and world Reid created.
The album, “Aurora,” features 11 tracks. I have to admit Amazon Prime really went above and beyond with the freaking advertising for this. I mean the album cover is an exact replica of the photoshoot scene in the book. The band listed as the artist is Daisy Jones & The Six rather than the two artists who actually sang the vocals: Riley Keough and Sam Claflin, who respectively play Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne in the series. Also in the advertisements on social media, Amazon Prime made accounts as ElleMarie Records, which is the record company from the book. Like if I hadn’t read the book before seeing all these things I would think Reid wrote this story about a real band.
I usually don’t love listening to new music. I like the music I listen to and stay pretty loyal to it. However, some of the songs on this album became instant hits. I absolutely love “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb).” It is also one of the most important songs from the book so the fact that it sticks out so much on the album too is impressive. The same thing stands with “Regret Me” which I think is my number two on the album. Again, another song that was really crucial for the plot of the book, so to have it come to life was incredible.
I guess the real excitement about having this album is knowing that there are going to be people going into reading the book for the first time who are going to be able to also hear the music as they read. It’s absolutely going to enhance the reading experience. Honestly I even got chills hearing some of the songs because these were all just words I had read on a page and now I get to hear them with a melody. You also get the characters’ emotions within these songs and you know how these lyrics built the characters to be who they are. There is something so special about having that aspect of the book brought to life that you can continue to enjoy even after you finish reading the book.
Some people were complaining that they felt the vibe of the album didn’t quite capture the ‘70s band theme it was supposed to but I honestly felt the music was similar enough to Fleetwood Mac. Also, like, come on, can’t we just admire the fact that the actresses and actors of the show’s cast actually learned to sing and play instruments to make their performances as real as possible? That takes so much talent you have to applaud them.
Even if you haven’t read “Daisy Jones and the Six,” I would recommend giving “Aurora” a listen. It’s got some great hits but if you’re really in a crunch for time at least listen to “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb).” Honestly a game changer.
