For a real album from a TV show based on a fictional book by author Taylor Jenkins Reid, Aurora, loosely inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, is a masterful Russian nesting doll of adaptation.
Audiences get to revel in all the magnetic messiness of love and addiction, the mountains and valleys of artistic success, within the safe confines of fictional storytelling. Riley Keough and Sam Claflin star alongside each other as Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne in Daisy Jones & The Six, infusing this fictional rock n’ roll band with all the angst, sexual tension, and chaos of the 70s.
Released via Atlantic Records and produced by GRAMMY award-winner Blake Mills, along with an ongoing list of acclaimed co-writers including Marcus Mumford, Jackson Browne, Chris Weisman, James Valentine, Z Berg, and more, Aurora succeeds in emulating the greats of its time.
Perhaps the most immersive track from both the album and the show, “Look at Us Now (Honeycomb),” captures every couple’s greatest challenge: growing. Or, more specifically, growing apart.
The album chronicles Jones and Dunne’s relationship as they continue to rehash old wounds under the guise of performance. Their anguish and frustration is captured in harmonies of “This thing we’ve been doing ain’t working out / Why can’t you just admit it to me / Oh baby look at us now / Baby look at us now.” The catalyst for the band’s success, it serves as a true tribute to the technicolor time period.
“Regret Me” – which is heard in part in the trailer – builds upon the feelings of tenderness and grief for love in the previous track, imbuing itself with the rage and anguish that come with all-consuming passion. As with most adaptations, this song draws upon the original essence from the book while making some minor tweaks for the on-screen storytelling. While Keough’s voice is not quite as gritty as readers may have imagined, her own strong, piercing vocals provide a satisfyingly rageful listening experience.
The entirety of Aurora was recorded at Sound City Studios, jointly run by Mills, Berg, and filmmaker-producer Jordan Tappis. This iconic Van Nuys, CA, spot serves as a backdrop in both the book and the series for the creation of the album. Mills reflects, “Creating the library of music for Daisy Jones and The Six was an experience I’ll never forget. I am grateful that, among other things, it afforded me to collaborate with so many of my peers, and also some of my heroes.” It’s landmarks like this that bridge the gap between fiction and reality, saturating the series with an unprecedented sense of legitimacy.
Aurora closes with “No Words,” a sweet and somber farewell after all is said and done. It’s love in theory, everything that could have been in the midst of passion and pain. Keough and Claflin’s voices linger in ethereal harmony over meditative instrumentals as their character’s bring their fervent romance to a melancholic close.
While the series’ version of Aurora takes many creative liberties from that of Reid’s original book, it preserves the sense of artistry and emotional intensity that made readers and watchers alike fall in love with this band’s story.
You can watch Daisy Jones & The Six on Prime Video, with new episodes released every Friday through March 24.
