Multi-platinum master storyteller JP Saxe has shared his EP Articulate Excuses, part one of a two-part album out now via Arista Records. Alongside the release, comes Saxe has shared his latest single I WANNA MOVE TO BROOKLYN.
Articulate Excuses pulls from a period in which Saxe worked to come to terms with his patterns and personhood thus far. JP explains: “Articulate Excuses is about 7 different things. It’s about hiding from myself, it’s about apologising for myself, it’s about relearning a masculine version of myself, it’s about nostalgia for the present, it’s about grief, it’s about re-finding the parts of myself I didn’t think I was allowed to be, and it’s about owning the parts of myself that I’m ashamed of.”
JP Saxe @ Shepherd's Bush Empire
The EP includes previously released singles Safe and Smartphone Make Me Dumb along with today’s I WANNA MOVE TO BROOKLYN in which JP romanticises his move to the city he now calls home. On that, JP shares: “Sometimes the life you fantasise about can be in direct conflict with the life others fantasise about you sharing with them. Sometimes that life is in Brooklyn pretending to be Patti Smith drinking too many coffees in too many bookstore cafes.”
The two-part album traces the GRAMMY®-nominated singer-songwriter’s journey through a series of personal revelations. After writing and recording the album and feeling like there were two distinct themes to the songs, Saxe decided to present the album in two parts – he describes the decision as “90% for creative reasons and 10% because of the pragmatism of navigating people’s increasingly nonexistent attention spans. I love my music so much and even l have trouble listening to 14 in a row. So how could I expect someone else to?” Each part has a unique sonic and thematic identity that gives one message when listened to on its own or as a complete project.”
In January, he shared the first taste of the part one, Safe, a sweetly moody R&B-kissed pop track co-written and produced by Malay (Frank Ocean, FLETCHER, Lorde) that put his signature mix of reflection and wit on full display — watch the video HERE. That was, in fact, Saxe’s first new solo song since he hit the road in late 2023 in support of John Mayer’s arena tour, and then kept going deep into 2024 on his own sold-out, globe-spanning, headlining run.
JP Saxe @ Shepherd's Bush Empire (Kalpesh Patel)
The 32-year-old Toronto man’s last new release was 2023’s A Gray Area album, which was largely produced by Malay and included the grooving, Mayer-featuring I Don’t Miss You, plus collaborations with the likes of five-time Latin-GRAMMY®-winning Colombian musician Camilo, folk-pop trio Tiny Habits, and singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine. The LP garnered praise from Billboard, People, Forbes, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and more. By openly exploring his deepest anxieties and emotions, Saxe shared what was then his most relatable set of songs to date.
Last year, after canvassing North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia on his A Grey Area World Tour, Saxe shared a pair of performance albums: A Grey Area (Live Sessions) — featuring acclaimed guest instrumentalists like Cory Henry and Tal Wilkenfeld — and Live On Stage, recordings from his recent tours that included a moving solo version of his late 2019 blockbuster, If the World Was Ending. Saxe has already proven himself to be a master of off-the-cuff intimacy, but with his forthcoming EPs, it’s clear that he’s bringing us in even closer.
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