Jean Speaks On Her New Single "JFK", and Mixing Music Genres

Jean, a rising artist out of the UK released her latest single, “JFK”, as she continues on her genre-defying journey. Known for her distinct style and compelling storytelling, the emerging artist delivers a track that blends alternative sounds with a hip-hop flair, layered over a retro vocal inspired by the glamour and mystique of old Hollywood. The new single showcases Jean’s ability to seamlessly fuse diverse influences into a distinctive soundscape that artfully bridges the gap between vintage charm and modern edge. In conversation with Clique, Jean shares that talking about Marilyn specifically, she has been the other woman - unintentionally - it’s just something she seemed to get caught up in. So she feels choked up when she thinks about her, what she went through in the public eye, and the theories about what happened to her, but Jack never gets any blame for that despite being the one who cheated. He’s seen as this suave compassionate sex-symbol, but Jean will be the first to admit she is a JFK haterrrrr.

CLIQUE: How does it feel to have your single “JFK” released into the world?

Jean: Like a huge long drag of a cigarette. I’ve been holding onto JFK for so long, until it felt like the perfect moment world-wise and me-wise, and it’s exciting but also a huge relief that it’s out in the world. I wanted to close the chapter of my last records so that I could talk about what I really want to talk about now, which is a bit darker and tells some stories from my life, and that story really opens with JFK.  

“I’ve always been into old Hollywood, tacky tabloids, world news and stuff. I had an obsession with 60s Hollywood as a teen and it was more than just the glamour, I truly deeply yearned for that time - the traditionalism, the lack of internet & technology, the feasibility of love and dreams, something has been lost between then and now that I’m still mourning despite not really knowing what it is.”

CLIQUE: Can you dive deeper into what it is about the JFK affair that inspired this song and your curiosity behind everything?

Jean: I’ve always been into old Hollywood, tacky tabloids, world news and stuff. I had an obsession with 60s Hollywood as a teen and it was more than just the glamour, I truly deeply yearned for that time - the traditionalism, the lack of internet & technology, the feasibility of love and dreams, something has been lost between then and now that I’m still mourning despite not really knowing what it is. There’s a German word for it,  “fernweh” which literally translates to ‘farsickness’, essentially a longing for somewhere you’ve never been.

Talking about Marilyn specifically, I’ve been the other woman - unintentionally - it’s just something I seem to get caught up in. So I feel choked up when I think about her, what she went through in the public eye, and the theories about what happened to her, but Jack never gets any blame for that despite being the one who cheated. He’s seen as this suave compassionate sex-symbol, but I’ll be the first to admit I’m a JFK haterrrrr. Fit though.

CLIQUE: You seem to mix genres a bit, when did you start to blend sounds?

Jean: When I was 16 and first started making music, I didn’t have a microphone and I couldn’t play instruments so I used to just mash up samples. Like maybe someone tapping on railings in NYC, a gospel loop and a bass synth from Alchemy, eventually I got a £50 Rode mic and could record vocals over the top, but didn’t know how to mix it, to this day I couldn’t tell you what compression is, I just know when I move that dial that far it makes the sound feel how I want it to feel.

I think the genre-bending was first inspired by The Black Eyed Peas’ 2005 album ‘Monkey Business’, in terms of crashing different genres into each other like Hip Hop, Funk, World, Electronica, Rock. I grew up listening to that album front to back with my dad, and my favourite bits were when things would just go completely left-field and mental. That never gets old.

CLIQUE: Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations?  

Jean: M.I.A, Gorillaz, Nick Cave, Lana Del Rey, the Twilight soundtrack, the Coraline soundtrack.

CLIQUE: Is there someone you dream to collaborate with one day? 

Jean: Oh my god, Gorillaz. Damon Albarn. He’s influenced so much of the way I write, from sampling to melodies to vocal effects. He’s like the godfather of genre-bending and character-building to me. 

CLIQUE: What did you learn about yourself during the process of making your single “JFK”?

Jean: I think that’s something I’ll probably understand as more time passes, it’s still fresh & happening so I haven’t been in a reflective headspace yet, but I’ll say it was super affirming to write partly from someone else’s point of view, and I learned that I enjoy doing this more creative character-writing. I used to make movie soundtracks for my classmates' films while at film school in London, and I think with what I’ve been through and what I enjoy writing about, sometimes it is like I’m writing music for a film, it just happens to be about my life.

CLIQUE: Do you hope to perform live in the future?

Jean: Can I be real? I haven’t done a live show yet that I’ve been totally myself at. I only started playing live a year and a half ago, and from the start I’ve been told by various people that I need to do certain stuff to be interesting, like choreography, audience participation, impressive vocal runs or whatever. Now is the first time that I have people around me who aren’t telling me what to do, and that is SOOO exciting. I can’t wait to play live again because it’s going to be like a face reveal. Like hi, I’m actually Jean. 

CLIQUE: What is your favourite part of the process when you are making music?

Jean: I have this little ritual when I’m making something new. I produce all of my music at home in my bedroom still, and once I’ve got a demo down I’ll go outside to somewhere like a field or a forest near my house, I’ll have a cigarette and I’ll listen to the song. If it’s a vibe then I’ll finish it. If it’s not a vibe, I’ll scrap it. I’d say that’s my favourite part, the “vibe check”. 

“They say that 14-18 are your most formative years, but those years were so crammed-full of ridiculous scary stuff for me, the stuff this EP is about, that I’m only now figuring out girlhood in it’s more innocent form.”

CLIQUE: Do you feel like writing about coming of age and girlhood is something that you will continue to do and enjoy?

Jean: Sometimes I think, am I ever actually going to “come-of-age”? They say that 14-18 are your most formative years, but those years were so crammed-full of ridiculous scary stuff for me, the stuff this EP is about, that I’m only now figuring out girlhood in it’s more innocent form. I’m still very much writing about what’s happened and how I feel about it, so I hope for now it’ll connect with people who feel the same way, but I’ll know when that chapter feels closed.

CLIQUE: What do you have coming up in the future for your music?

Jean: The next single from this EP is coming up, it’s called ‘Mini Skirt’. I wrote it about this one night I was on the tube at 2am, both knees cut up, in a mini skirt, having just escaped something really bad. It was the first time I questioned what I was doing morally, and there’s a line in it, “if I go there I’m not coming back” which is how I feel about a lot of things really, but this night it was literal.

Other than that I’d love to make a short film around this EP, like Lana Del Rey’s “Tropico”. And I’d love to open for some artists who I think are cool, like Luvcat- and Gorillaz obviously.

Listen to Jean’s song on Spotify here.