Iconicks and Honey Bees, alike, if for some reason you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, Nick Jonas released his fifth and latest solo album.
Nick Jonas’ latest album, Sunday Best, was released three months after Jonas Brothers’ Greetings From Your Hometown and three years after his solo album, Spaceman. He’s come a long way since the start of his career. He has become a husband and father and has matured through the years, not just personally but also musically. The album is proof of that.
Sunday Best is an eleven-track pop album that blends soulful and gospel elements, creating a beautiful soundscape. The album’s cover art features Nick gazing at his reflection in a bathroom mirror, using his continuous glucose monitor. In the background, there’s a visual of his daughter’s handprints. The cover sets us up for the personal journey and insight we’ll be getting into his life.
Tracklist:
- ‘Sweet To Me‘
- ‘Handprints‘
- ‘I Need You‘
- ‘You Got Me‘
- ‘Gut Punch‘
- ‘Hope‘
- ‘Seeing Ghosts‘
- ‘Aphrodite‘
- ‘911‘
- ‘The Greatest‘ (feat. Jonas Brothers)
- ‘Princesses‘
‘Sweet To Me’
“Caramel skin, white t-shirt blowing in the wind
It’s heavenly sin”
Everyone has different definitions of what’s sweet to them. To some people, life is sweet. To others, they only see food as sweet. For those who enjoy every moment in life, they can find something sweet in the smallest things. Nick Jonas details what he finds sweet in the first track of his Sunday Best album, ‘Sweet To Me.’ The song explores themes of nostalgia, appreciation, and growth. Nick finds himself reminiscing on the small and simple pleasures that get him through the day.
Each verse details different aspects of his life. Nick found relief in celebrating the smaller things in life. For example, he appreciates the time he spent with his dad while growing up. The other things he appreciates include summer days and his wife. He sings, “When the doctor told me, there’s too much sugar in your bloodstream,” which notes his diagnosis with Type 1 Diabetes. He accepts it and wants to focus on the beauty of small things in his life.
‘Sweet To Me’ is personal and lyrically beautiful. He gets help from a choir toward the post-chorus. It adds a powerful layer. The song is a beautiful reminder to stop and enjoy life’s comforts and pleasures. The small things should be appreciated more often.
A playlist about gratitude, transformation, or pleasures in life would suit this song well.
‘Handprints’
“If we could run it back, run it back
You know I’d gladly take it twice”
Everyone would love to control time. ‘Handprints’ finds Nick wishing he could slow time down. The song explores themes of family, time, and appreciation. The slow-tempo song finds Nick wanting to cherish moments with his wife and daughter. The moments he has with them are beautiful and worth keeping as memories forever, especially when he knows at some point he’ll only be able to FaceTime with them.
The song beautifully captures the gentleness of reflecting on life’s moments. Listening to ‘Handprints’ makes you feel as if you’re driving down the highway on a warm or chill day. It’s a great follow-up after ‘Sweet To Me,’ as both are reflections of moments in his life.
A playlist about being present, cherishing moments, or longing would suit this song well.
‘I Need You’
“When I’m lost, I look in your direction
You’re the source of my protection”
The love and admiration Nick has for his wife is everything. He expresses it in the third track on the album ‘I Need You.’ The song explores themes of love, devotion, and destiny. The song relies only on vocals, a piano backing, and occasional background vocals. ‘I Need You’ is a beautiful, soulful ballad about how much he needs his wife.
He needs her to the moon and back. He sees her as someone who protects and guides him in every way. In return, he’s there for her whenever she needs him as well. The background vocals on the song sound heavenly. They help make the lyrics, “Like angels all around your every move,” truly come to life. It’s easily one of the best songs on the album.
A playlist about eternal love, commitment, or weddings would suit this song well.
‘You Got Me’
“We’re like white tees and James Dean
Perfect and evergreen, you got me”
‘You Got Me’ is another song about Nick’s wife, Priyanka. The song explores themes of security, intimacy, and fearlessness. While ‘I Need You’ was about Nick needing his wife, ‘You Got Me’ is about being forever hers. He compares his wife and their relationship to the things they enjoy individually and together. No one else has had him the way Priyanka has him.
He loves the memories they share and the way he can show her who he truly is. It’s hard to find someone you can 100% yourself with, so for him to find someone like that means everything. Nick feels fearless when it comes to her and their relationship because, in his eyes, there’s no reason to. Overall, she was made for him, and there’s no one or anything that will change that in his eyes.
A playlist about romance or appreciation would suit this song well.
‘Gut Punch’
“Now, what would it be like if I just tried being nice
To the person that I’m seeing in the mirror? Yeah”
Most, if not all of us, have had moments where we talk negatively to ourselves. Nick Jonas is one of those people. ‘Gut Punch’ finds him having one of those moments. The song explores themes of self-criticism, encouragement, and the pressure to be perfect. Up until this song, Nick has been giving us a beautiful and vulnerable glimpse into his life on the album. The first few songs we heard him speaking about fond memories and having a family. With ‘Gut Punch,’ he takes a more vulnerable direction. He takes us into the confines of his mind and inner conflict.
Nick doesn’t shy away from telling listeners how he self-criticizes. He’s self-aware of his self-criticism, his tendency to be a perfectionist, and even his people-pleasing tendencies. He doesn’t know why it’s this way, but wishes things could be the opposite. Nick wants to be able to take the advice others give him about having compassion towards himself. He also wants his inner child to know he’s perfect the way he is and needs to accept himself.
Overall, his sharing such a vulnerable song could be his way of telling listeners they’re not alone and should have more grace and patience with themselves. ‘Gut Punch’ is a powerful, gut-punching, and relatable song that many people can find a piece of themselves in. The song really hits us like a ‘Gut Punch’ and gives a whole new meaning to what the phrase means. ‘Gut Punch’ key takeaway is to love and accept your flaws and imperfections, no matter what.
A playlist about self-love, or self-acceptance, or healing would suit this song well.
‘Hope’
“I need some hope
Where’s the silver lining cutting through all the smoke? (Ooh-ooh)”
Everyone could use some ‘Hope,’ especially when they’re going through rough times or being self-critical. ‘Hope’ happens to be the sixth track on Sunday Best. The song channels themes of hope, faith, and perseverance. During ‘Hope,’ Nick finds himself talking and praying to a higher power. He knows that while things might seem okay, everything isn’t going to stay that way in the long run. All he wants at the end of the day is hope. Even though he can’t see the higher power, its presence has always been with him, when he was in choir as a kid and even in his adult life.
Nick Jonas takes us to church with this song by using a choir to emphasize the song’s title. This isn’t the first time he’s used a choir in his music. He created a Gospel version of his song ‘Jealous,’ and we heard a choir in the background of ‘I Need You.’ This Gospel-infused song perfectly captures the essence of the album’s title.
A playlist about strength, resilience, or challenges would suit this song well.
‘Seeing Ghosts’
“My premonition is, could get used to this
My superstition is you belong on my lips”
Nick returns to singing to his wife on ‘Seeing Ghosts.’ The song centers around the themes of love, transformation, and passion. Nick sees his love as a supernatural type of love; when it comes to his wife, she has him ‘Seeing Ghosts.’ He has changed over time while being with her. His wife made him believe in things he never thought he would. During the song, he sings, “I’m alive in a new kind of way, one that I’ve never known, (One that I’ve never known), oh-oh,” highlighting how she’s got him feeling more alive than he’s ever felt. He finds this experience to be exhilarating. The song has an energetic Motown vibe. It’ll make you want to get up and dance.
A playlist about desire or the supernatural would suit this song well.
‘Aphrodite’
“Just when you think you’re over
She gets you every time”
Nick making a song comparing his wife to the Greek goddess of all things beauty wasn’t on our 2026 bingo cards. However, we’re not mad about it. We can add his song to the endless list of songs made about Greek mythology. The song channels themes of admiration, desire, and beauty. ‘Aphrodite’ finds Nick Jonas addicted to everything his wife does. She has a hold over him to the point where, if something happens, he feels himself being pulled back in, as if nothing had happened. To him, nobody else comes close to being as captivating as she is. He loves every moment of it. It’s a beautiful and soulful ode to his wife. The layering of the vocals blends extremely well.
A playlist, temptation, or mythology would suit this song well.
‘911’
“They say the ones that love you, they gon’ hurt you most
And I’m already seeing twenty miles down the road”
Not all relationships last, and that’s okay. Although not all relationships last, there are those relationships and people that leave a lasting impression. The ninth track on Sunday Best, ‘911,’ is about a person having a lasting effect on Nick Jonas. The song explores themes of heartbreak, longing, and loss. During his Sunday Best Brunch in Toronto, the singer joked about how people thought the song was called ‘Wee-ooh, wee-ooh,’ but said, “call it whatever you want, it’s fine.”
In ‘911,’ Nick is singing about a woman who’s now part of his past. The woman has moved on with another man. While she has, he hasn’t. He finds himself reminiscing about the times they shared. Everything about her is still embedded in his mind. He doesn’t think anyone will come close to comparing to her. He’s hurting, but at the same time, he can’t help himself. The song is soulful and catchy, and will have listeners unable to stop singing “911, 911 (Wee-ooh, wee-ooh).”
A playlist about breakups, reminiscing, or withdrawal would suit this song well.
‘The Greatest’ ft. The Jonas Brothers
“Always hurts so much worse
When you don’t see it coming your way”
One thing about the Jonas Brothers is that they’re equally great separately and when they come together to make music. ‘The Greatest’ is the next track from Nick Jonas’ album, and it features none other than his brothers, Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas. The song explores the themes of breakups, introspection, and pain. The song finds the brothers in the aftermath of a breakup. It was a breakup that came as a surprise and left them feeling heartbroken and in pain.
They express their feelings throughout the song. They acknowledge the fact that they’ve had several heartbreaks in the past. However, those heartbreaks don’t compare to who the song is about. ‘The Greatest’ in the song could have two possible meanings. They could be talking about the heartbreak itself and the person who caused it.
A playlist about inner struggles, heartbreak, or lost love would suit this song well.
‘Princesses’
“I’m fascinated by your questions
I’m terrified to let you down”
The love a dad has for their daughter is truly the most beautiful thing in the world. Nick Jonas has talked about self-love and the love he has for his wife through Sunday Best, but ‘Princesses’ takes a different route. He’s noted that the inspiration behind the track is his daughter. The song explores themes of parenthood, childhood, and imagination. ‘Princesses’ is all about Nick wanting to play princesses with his daughter while they spend time with one another.
Nick acknowledges how being who he is requires him to use his imagination. However, while that’s great and everything, what he loves more is seeing his daughter’s imagination come to life. He knows his daughter will get older, but he wishes she could stay young for as long as possible. Letting her down terrifies him, but he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make her happy. The song is a beautiful and intimate ode to his daughter. It’s the perfect way to wrap up the album.
A playlist about reminiscing, happiness, or parenthood would suit this song well.
Nick Jonas’ Sunday Best delivers smooth, powerful vocals, making this his best album to date. It serves as his most vulnerable and intimate album. He had a vision for the album, and he executed it in a way that works for him. We love this mature and vulnerable era that Nick Jonas has found himself in.
Have you listened to the album yet? What do you think of the album? What are your favorite songs? If you ask us, we would say they’re ‘Gut Punch,’ ‘Hope,’ and ‘Princesses.’
We would love to know your thoughts and feelings on Sunday Best! Feel free to let us know in the comments below. Alternatively, catch us on our socials via Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
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