Jake & Shelby Release New Indie Single & Music Video – “Fragile”
Today, Nashville-based pop duo Jake & Shelby released the stirring new indie pop single “Fragile,” and its accompanying music video, from their forthcoming debut studio album, Learning To Love. Slated for release on October 10 via EMPIRE, the soul-baring LP tells the story of love in all its forms, featuring earworm pop melodies, heart-warming harmonies, and shapeshifting rhythms. Pre-save/order Learning To Love HERE.
In celebration of the new record, Jake & Shelby will be performing a string of shows that kicks off in Atlanta on October 8, includes an album release show in Nashville on October 12, and ends in LA on October 17 – get tickets and more information HERE.
“It’s a song that trembles at the edge of breaking, yet radiates with humanity – a dreamlike indie pop confessional that lays bare the messiness of anxiety, self-blame, and longing,”states Atwood Magazine of the track’s premiere. “Gentle yet gutting, it’s the sound of two voices holding nothing back, and in their unflinching honesty, Jake Lawson and Shelby Hiam transform inner pain into something achingly universal and breathtakingly beautiful.”
“This is the first song we wrote with Josh Ronen, who is now a sweet friend of ours and a producer on this album,”shares Shelby. “Fragile was a song I had started writing when I had recently gone through some big life changes, and I was just so tired of feeling fragile. It felt like it got in the way of everything and I just felt weak. I have a hard time knowing if anxiety and other things I struggle with are from my own doing or experiences that people have put me through, and I was able to process some of that by writing this song. Even though our first time meeting Josh was whenever we wrote this song, I felt so comfortable being able to share all of this with him. The recording of this song felt magical. I would say this was the first song we recorded that stepped into a new place for us sonically, and it paved the way for a lot of this album.”
The new single follows the release of the earlier singles “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” “You Don’t Know,” and “Loophole.” All of which are vibrant bops with soaring melodies that help set the new record’s deeply personal yet universally relatable tone. Straying from their signature stripped-back elegance, Jake & Shelby worked closely with more producers, including Josh Ronen (Kelly Clarkson, Erin Kinsey) and Micah Tawlks (COIN, The Brook & the Bluff), to embrace a far more elaborately detailed sound that is adorned with shadowy beats, Jake’s inventive guitar tones, plus Shelby’s haunting piano and jazz-tinged vocals.
Thematically, Learning To Love explores all facets of love– falling in, falling out, chasing, questioning, and surrendering to it. The singer-songwriter duo beautifully captured both the highs and lows of relationships with an honest and emotionally-charged delivery. Raw yet polished, Learning To Love is the perfect soundtrack for anyone who has ever found themselves tangled in love, whether they were running toward it, running from it, or somewhere in between.
Speaking on the inspiration behind the album and meaning of its title, Jake & Shelby explain, “While a lot of this album is about learning to love someone else, a bigger part of it is about learning to love yourself. It’s about learning to love yourself enough to leave what isn’t good for you. Learning to choose someone who will truly care for you. Learning to love yourself enough to work through trauma from your past. To fully love someone else, the first step is learning to love yourself, and that’s what this album means to us. We hope this album can meet people wherever they are. Whether they’re in a relationship or not, we want them to feel seen.” Fragile is a great single for the duo and I look forward to seeing more.