It was one of the first questions that popped up after the announcement that Taylor Jenkins Reid’s hit novel Daisy Jones & The Six would be adapted as a TV show for Amazon Prime. There’s something almost artificial about creating a fictional album for a fictional band, and making it worthy of coming from that universe’s greatest band seems like a near-impossible task. Despite the fundamental challenges, though, Aurora is a solid work that could well pass for a '70s rock ‘n’ roll classic. The series stars Riley Keough and Sam Claflin are on vocal duties, with the likes of Marcus Mumford and Phoebe Bridgers appearing in the writing credits.
If you’re hoping for Aurora to be totally faithful to how it appeared in the book, you might want to adjust your expectations. From the album tracklist in the book, only three songs appear on this version of Aurora – “Please”, “Aurora” and “Regret Me”, with “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” added to the album, too. In these songs, the lyrics have been entirely changed from those which appeared in the source material. It makes sense – the music has been reworked by professional songwriters and any changes are, on the whole, for the better. “Please” becomes sharper and more specific, brimming with desperation against its bluesy backdrop. “Regret Me” transforms into a punchier duet, a bitter fight between the two protagonists.
It's worth noting, too, that this isn’t all we’ll be hearing from Daisy Jones & The Six. Original songs from the series are set to be released as weekly EPs, so don’t despair if your favourite song is missing from Aurora.
Riley Keough’s vocals as Daisy are not necessarily what you would expect for the character. While we lose the grittiness that TJR originally described (“You’d have thought that she had rocks in her throat that the sound had to travel over”), she embodies the character’s effortlessly strong voice that perfectly complements Sam Claflin’s Billy Dunne.
There are certain real-world references that help to situate the album authentically in the '70s. Unsurprisingly, Fleetwood Mac are the first to come to mind on tracks like “Let Me Down Easy”, but Daisy Jones & The Six are hardly a fictional rip-off. References go much deeper into blues and country sounds with “Please” and “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” respectively, with “Two Against Three” giving us a moment of gentler, acoustic pop rock. Of course, it was always going to be a little too polished for it to be believable in the time period. But perhaps more importantly, it fits authentically in the environment of the original novel. It has all the chaos and intricacies of seven people in a band, each vying to make themselves heard. “Regret Me” is charged with the tension and palpable chemistry between Daisy and Billy.
Purists might be jarred by the fact that the series’ version of Aurora bears little resemblance to the book, but don’t let that put you off – this album captures all the magic and intensity created by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
