Phillip Phillips

JP Saxe

jpsaxe.com/home/

JP Saxe writes songs to discover and fathom the depths of his own personality. It’s why he doesn’t hold backor pull any punches. It’s why he speaks so candidly about life,loss, and love. It’s why he’s quietly emerged asa multi-platinum GRAMMY®nominated phenomenon whose voice can be felt across pop musicandespecially on his second full-length album,A Grey Area[Arista Records].After dedicating his life to music, the Toronto-born and Los Angeles-based singer,songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist captivated audiences everywhere with“If The World Was Ending”[feat. Julia Michaels].Nominated for“Song of the Year”at the 2021 GRAMMY® Awards, streamed over one billion times, andcertified double-platinum in the U.S. and six times-platinum in Canada, it paved the way for his full-lengthdebut,Dangerous Levels of Introspection.Powered by“A Little Bit Yours,” “Line By Line”[feat. Maren Morris],and“Here’s Hopin’”with John Mayer, the record earned acclaim fromPeople,Entertainment Weekly,American Songwriter,UPROXX, andEUPHORIA.who even rated it“5-out-of-5 stars.”He delivered show-stopping performances onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbertaccompanied by Mayer,The Tonight ShowStarring Jimmy Fallon,Live with Kelly & Ryan,and more. To date, Saxe has amassed 2.5 billion-plustotalstreams and received two iHeart Award nominations forBest New Pop ArtistandBest Lyrics. He wonBreakthrough Artist of the Yearat the 2021 JUNO Awardsandwas nominated for two2022JUNO Awards,includingArtist of the YearandAlbum of the Year.Plus, hehas delivered memorable live performances,opening for Alicia Keys,Lewis Capaldi, and John Mayer.In the midst of this journey,heassembled what would becomeA Grey Area. By mining his deepest thoughts,anxieties, and emotions, heopens up more than ever.When on displayin the songs, his feelings may not look all that different from yours…“My favorite art makes me feel closer to a part of myself,”hestates.“If my art can get you closer to a part ofyourselfand gain emotional access, that’s a win.”This time around,he creatively plungedas deep as possible.He didn’t do so by himself though. He diligentlyworked alongside collaborators such as GRAMMY® Award-winning phenomenon Malay [Frank Ocean, Lorde,FLETCHER].L.A. sessions with Malay bookended a month-long sojourn to Colombia where he wrote andrecorded a significant chunk of the album.“Imadetwo songs with Malay, went to Colombia, came back, andwedid the wholerecordtogether,”recallsJP.“He’s become a core creative partner.He’s as obsessed with productiondetailsas I am with the nuances ofthe words and melodies. We share the same creative intent, and it’s based on mutual trust.”Heset the stage for the album by illuminating the expanse ofitsscope, sharing“When You Think of Me,”“The Good Parts,” “Moderación (Con Camilo),” “I Don’t Miss You,”and“Everything Ends”[feat. LizzyMcAlpine & Tiny Habits].Now, the single“Caught Up On You”finds JP in the pocketof a stream-of-conscious lyricaldelugeaffixed to awoozy jazz beat and nimble piano playing.Hisclever and oft-quotable rantdissects his romanticization ofintellect.“It stems frombeing 17 andcrushing hard on a girl who told me to read these classic novels shebased her personality,”he notes.“It’s where the story starts.”His voice confidently swoons on the chorus ashe wonders,“Can I embrace what I still can’t make sense of? Home’s the first place you try running awayfrom.”

“I quickly got bored of talking about loneliness, and I wanted to write about something else,” he admits,“Oneday in the studio, I was like,‘I want to make this fun’. So, I invited a bunch of my friends who playinstrumentsover. TJ Whitelaw came over with a guitar. Adam Hanson was on drums. While they jammed and got crazy, Isat in the corner and wrote. I completely turned off my filter and wrote nine of the weirdest verses I’ve everwritten and picked my favorite four. It was a way to clear the pipes creatively, but I ended up being obsessedwith the song. It was genuinely fun. It’s still my favorite song on the record. When you’re used to talkingabout heavy and emotional shit and you write a song about kinks and communism, it’s a nice little break.”On “Anywhere,” JP picks up cello for the first time since the age of 12. He uses the cello bow on the guitar,widening the sonic palette even further. These strings bolster the piano and give the album another sonicdimension.“It’s a complicated song,” he admits. “It reframes the phrase,‘No matter what and wherever I go, I’m notgoing anywhere’. It’s about how there are more ways to be there for the people you care about than tosimply be there for them. Musically, it took a long time to arrive at this simplicity with the strings, humming,and the piano. I’m proud of it though.”Then, there’s “Someone Else’s Home.” A nervous echo pulsates beneath hisconversational delivery. Helyrically leafs through his idiosyncrasieswith observations such as“It just feels unromantic to buy a paintingat 3AM on the internet.”Eventually,he lets go,“I’m giving up on making this my home, though it’s always feltlike someone else’s home.”“It’s one of the most thematicallycentral songson the album,” he reveals. “It directly examines when youareand aren’tconnected to yourself and the world you’re in.”Elsewhere, “Fear and Intuition” hinges on nimbly finger-picked acoustic guitar punctuated by twinkling keys.His internal dialogue plays out while“staying in my old roommate’s apartment.”“You always hear people say,‘Listen to yourself and follow your gut,’but my answer is usually,‘Which fuckinggut or voice at which time of day?’,” he laughs.“I’m tryingto tap into a voice that’s more elusive to mostpeople in their twenties. Iadmire anyone who taps into a clear inner voice, because mine don’t speakEnglish!”A palm-muted acoustic guitar riff underlines delicate verses on “All My Shit Is In My Car” only for his deliveryto erupt in a fit of emotion topped offwithfalsetto.“It’s literally about all my shit being in my car,” he smiles.“The song isabout a chaotic transition and arguingwith myself.I’mlike a fucking teenageragain becauseI’m rebuilding my life.”For the opener“Old Times Sake (Epigraph by Yesika Salgado),”he converted one ofpoetYesika’s piecesinto“a singable one-minutepiece.”“There’snostalgiaandself-awarenessin her poetry,” he notes. “It’s a little romantic, but it’s rooted in realityand thinking where your love lives and what home means.”Fittingly, the album closer “If Love Ends” leaves the story open-ended.“It concludes with a question,” he says. “If love ends, what would we call it anymore? There’s a catharsis inasking.”

There might not be an answer,butJP might know how you feel.“I hopethe musicbrings you closer to yourself,” he affirms. “I hope itmakes you react and you want to listenagain. I also hope you come to a show—because that’s good for my ego.”