Ten years ago, it paid to be a Billy Joel-obsessed high schooler. You can imagine the excitement that rushed over me when Rolling Stone deemed a then-unknown Tobias Jesso Jr. to be the Piano Man’s 21st-century successor. I ate his debut album Goon up, listening to it anywhere and everywhere. “How Could You Babe,” “Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” “Without You,” “For You”—these were the songs of my life at a time when that sort of thing mattered more than anything. Jesso Jr.’s timeless, sitting-down sound cut through a then-suffocating phase of rock music dominated by guitarists like Mac DeMarco and synthesists like Kevin Parker. But here’s the catch: Jesso Jr. let Goon be his only statement, choosing to “retire” from solo music and performing. He always had an itch to write for other people, not himself.
So he did that, penning songs for Justin Bieber, HAIM, Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Adele, and Miley Cyrus. He got an Album of the Year trophy from the Recording Academy for his contributions to Styles’ Harry’s House and won their inaugural Grammy for Songwriter of the Year in 2023. Goon took away his “confidence and well-being,” but shaping the voices of others, like the now-supersongwriter Amy Allen, brought him back to himself. I didn’t think we’d hear Jesso Jr. make another record under his own name for a long time. Well, I guess “a long time” has finally come to collect.
s h i n e will arrive on November 21 via R&R. It was written during a “6-week [Jesso Jr.] took earlier this year, but is the culmination of everything he has built towards for the past decade” and recorded live and alone. In lead single “I Love You,” Jesso Jr.’s back returns arched over his piano just as it was for nearly every note on Goon. These new songs were self-produced and mixed by the great Shawn Everett, and the album features contributions from Danielle Haim, Julian Bunetta, Justin Vernon, Tommy King, Eli Teplin, Rosie Hamilton, and, according to a press release, a psychic. Check out the s h i n e tracklist and artwork and the music video (starring Dakota Johnson and Riley Keough) for “I Love You” below.
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s h i n e Artwork:
s h i n e Tracklist:
Waiting Around
Black Magic
Bridges
Green Eyes
Everything May Soon Be Gone
Rain
I Love You
Lullaby
