Jean
UK alt-pop sensation Jean has just unleashed her latest single, "Spring Breakers". This self-written and produced summer anthem is all about shedding the version of yourself that's feeling stuck or bored and embracing a new, liberated you. "Spring Breakers" is the sonic embodiment of Jean's brattiness, dreaminess, and messiness - a true reflection of her artistic persona.
“I remember watching the film Spring Breakers when I was younger and not getting it at all. Then I watched it again a few years later and thought - first of all God. James Franco is so hot. Then, I love their neon bikinis. I want a balaclava. I wish I was that brave, that mental. I sort of am,” she says.
With authentic lyrics and a diverse musicality, Jean is continuing to make waves.
Don't miss out on her latest single. Go stream “Spring Breakers” out now !
Hi Jean, how are you? - what's your story?
Hiya! I’m so good, I just found a playboy CD player on the pavement!!!
I write & produce alt-pop about my experiences with nostalgia and I guess, yearning for things I can’t experience again, like the golden age of Hollywood, childhood before the event (whatever that is to you), young love, etc. It’s something I’ve always felt deeply, and I’ve spent the past few years creating a sonic and visual world I think invites people into that space.
"Spring Breakers" is your upcoming single - what's the inspiration behind this single?
Spring Breakers came from a place of ‘I literally don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing, ever, but I know what feels exciting and I think I want to follow it’. It’s really a song about detaching from whatever version of yourself feels stuck or bored, and slipping into a new one, even if it only lasts a week. It’s about crashing out and calling it healing.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process behind this single? Who helped you create it?
Nobody! I made this song in my bed on my laptop. I had just quit my job the morning I wrote it, and me and my flatmate were being, frankly, manic & unemployed, in the living room making this huge plan to move to America with no money. I was talking to him about the 2012 film Spring Breakers, how we could just fly over there and figure it out, whatever happened at least it wouldn’t be boring and we’d have each other. We both went into our rooms to pack, and I guess I just got distracted, got into bed and made Spring Breakers on my laptop, the whole thing.
What did you feel when recording this single?
It got something out of my system which I didn’t know was there. This was the first single I made since cutting ties with my label/mgmt at the start of the year. I was doing a LOT of thinking about what I really want, and came to the realisation that I just want to have a good time in this moment, and I think that meant detaching from the path of artist success I’ve been locked into for so long, and realising actually I can experiment and put out DIY music that I love, and it’s going to be way more light and free than trying to fit into a lane that I’m just not that committed to staying in.
What's your favorite lyric on "Spring Breakers"?
“I spread bills on the bed with a loaded gun
push the feeling down down in my abdomen til I -
crash out”
Me and my debt collector have this long-standing ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’-style relationship where he only calls me for one thing, and I fantasise about opening the door to him one day with a glock. I like this lyric because that’s exactly what I picture when I hear it - sometimes I get a bill and just immediately crash out.
What can you tell us about the music video?
Crazy story. So I had nowhere to live really suddenly, stood in a flat in London that I had to leave that day, I was freaking out on the phone to my best friends and they said “We’re in Cyprus, just come here while you figure everything out”. I called my band over to take all of my belongings home with them, and I went straight to the airport. Hitchhiked to their villa in the mountains, I literally stuck my thumb out at the airport and got a ride there with this Greek farmer in his pick-up truck.
I was sending Spring Breakers to my distributor the next morning sat overlooking the beach and realised I didn’t have any artwork. I woke the girls up and said “Soph, can you draw this tattoo on me? Elena can you take a pic on your phone?”. Me and Elena took a walk down the mountain to take the photo and idk, we ended up shooting a whole music video on her phone. We hitchhiked from the mountain to the beach and back like 5 times that day, one was a police car, another was some frat boys from Ayia Napa. We got back to the house and I edited it on Final Cut Pro while the girls made dinner and that was it. I’m wearing Soph’s knickers in the video, their grandma’s skirt, the tattoo is eyeliner. It was 36 degrees and the eyeliner was melting & smudging everywhere, I love that you can see that and also the insane sweat patches on all my clothes in the video lol. Everything was just like whatever.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Honestly, I wish social media wasn’t the centre of the industry. I’m forever mourning how curated and analog the industry was when I was a kid, when artists just made music, and the labels had to take a risk, instead of artist’s performing for algorithms or chasing TikTok trends to prove their worth! I want to create a world that feels separate from real life, but I feel like I’m often stuck between committing to that vision and getting clicks.
As an artist, what's the hardest part? And what is the best part?
For me personally, the hardest part is not knowing if you’re doing the right thing, if you’re heading down the right or wrong path. Wondering if maybe you had just put up with that person or signed that deal that things would be different. The best part is realising you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. The right person will stay.
How does social media impact your mental health?
Wheeewwwww. Doing the thousand yard stare right now.
What does songwriting make you feel?
It’s like a weird dissociative flow state and at the same time I’m incredibly in tune with myself and aware of everything. The way I write and produce is very quick and messy, and I don’t put much thought into the lyrics or the genre (consciously) - it’s not until I bounce the demo and go outside for a cigarette to listen to it that I realise ‘oh! That’s like, exactly how I feel and how I wanted to express it! I actually did put a lot of thought into that. Nice.’
What biggest life lessons have you learned so far?
Let everything happen to you, beauty and terror. Just keep going, no feeling is final.
-Rainer Maria Rilke
In your opinion, what would make the world a BETTER place?
I think fries should come on the side of every meal, the way you get free water at a restaurant. What if we got a little refillable cup of fries and perhaps a little aioli or truffle mayo.
Connect with JEAN: