Multi-platinum master storyteller JP Saxe has dropped Safe, a sweetly quiet but subtly sticky new single out via Arista Records. The R&B-kissed pop track is the multi-platinum GRAMMY®-nominated singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s first new solo song in more than a year, since Saxe hit the road in late 2023 in support of John Mayer’s arena tour then kept going deep into 2024 on his own sold-out, globe-spanning, headlining run. This past week, JP premiered the song live at what would have been a single release show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom that he instead transformed into a NY For LA benefit show raising money for those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. He was joined by friends Allison Ponthier, Ally Salort, Elliot Skinner and Kristiane.
JP Saxe @ Shepherd's Bush Empire (Kalpesh Patel)
His first release, Safe, is more beat-based than Saxe’s most recent singles, creating a mellow mood out of a reversed soul sample, bent synth tones, shimmering keys, and crunchy drums. But our host delivers his signature mix of personal reflection and humorous wit all the same: “Never needed a sword, never needed a shield / Never stormed a castle on a battlefield / Haven’t needed a fist since since third period gym / Jeremy Copeland, honestly f— that kid.” Soon, it’s clear that the battle he faces is a more subtle one: learning to make his partner feel emotionally protected.
On his first release since 2023, JP shares: “It’s a strange feeling to be dropping a song about what it means to protect the people we love on this particular week. I guess we don’t really get to decide what our songs are about. I thought it was about emotional safety — about the masculine urge to protect with fighting before listening, and relearning what it really means to make the people we love feel secure around us. Right now it feels like “hey checking on you” texts and donations to the gofundme’s of our friends who’ve lost their homes and voting for environmental protection policies and against the leaders who oppose them. “I want to make you feel safe” feels like, “come over stay as long as you’d like.” I have a love/hate relationship with the way songs intertwine their way into the scariest parts of our lives. I just hope this one can lovingly contribute to our conversations about how we’re all looking out for each other.”
The comforting cut reunites Saxe with GRAMMY®-winning songwriter/producer Malay (Frank Ocean, FLECTHER, Lorde). The pair worked together closely on Saxe’s last album, 2023’s A Gray Area, which included the groove-steeped, John 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 set garnered praise from Billboard, People, Forbes, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and more. By openly exploring his deepest thoughts, anxieties, and emotions, Saxe shared his most relatable song set to date.
JP Saxe @ Shepherd's Bush Empire
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. Stay tuned for more music from JP Saxe in 2025.
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