Jane. shares ethereal EP ‘Celeste’
Today, LA-based alternative singer-songwriter Jane., shares the soul-baring, highly-anticipated EP Celeste out everywhere now via Good News Only. Alongside the dreamy EP comes the tender ode to love, “Made For You,” out everywhere now with a sweet accompanying lyric video.
The title of the five track EP, Celeste, is taken from the Latin word meaning “heavenly,” and holds tracks that led the singer down a path towards further discovering himself, his pain, and his route to healing and subsequently, his spirituality. Jane. explains, “It’s a representation of my journey mentally traveling to the heavens to deal with this pain. To ask questions. To make confessions. To heal. To try and define how my spirituality plays into this pain.” By sharing his own experiences of pain, Jane. hopes to help others better understand their struggles. Jane. continues, “There’s beautiful moments and songs on the project, but overall, it’s something of a cry. It may even be a call for help. I have this recurring message of truth and honesty, and as I keep growing as a person, and growing as an artist, I keep feeling the need to share. To share what I find out as I grow. At this point, I feel a responsibility to it.”
Today, along with the full EP, Jane. shares the wistful track and lyric video “Made For You.” The loose idea of the track has been floating around in the musician’s head for over eight years. Jane. explains, “I’ve had chords and the melody and the phrase ‘It’s true, I think I’m made for you’ for a really long time. After becoming engaged, and now married, it felt appropriate for this song to see life.” The track’s subject matter came naturally, born out of a loving long-term relationship. He continues, “I can’t help but write love songs as I’ve been in love with the same woman for 13 years, and similar to the previous single, ‘Beach Inside,’ love is such an important part of our time here, and I had to include it on the project.”
The release of the full project follows the previously shared pensive “Dreaming,” the honest and intimate “Beach Inside” and quietly courageous “Sun In My Eyes.” “Dreaming,” the fourth track on the five track project, is a soothing search for peace and hope as Jane. attempts to hold onto the belief that society will progress positively, despite the deep-rooted issues that plague American life. Unlike previous releases, “Dreaming” carefully tackles more complex, real-life issues and offers a quiet place of refuge, even just for four minutes.
Jane. reveals that “Dreaming” is his favorite track on the EP and that recent events encouraged the song to pour out of him. “I felt the need to address some real issues that are repeatedly happening in the country I live in and this song felt like it evoked the right emotion to do so.” On the creative process, Jane. says, “I started playing some chorus on the piano and the verse melody just fell out of me. Every record there’s a song that just writes itself and on this project, ‘Dreaming’ was it.”
With his honesty and desperation for a better world on full display, Jane. adds, “The chorus might be the most poignant part of the song. I repeat, ‘I don’t understand.’ It’s purposely such a simple line. I really don’t understand. No one does. The song starts on an optimistic note as I still have faith change can be made, but as the song progresses that faith is lost. I still don’t understand.”
“Beach Inside” immerses listeners in a peaceful sonic world through the singer’s uniquely captivating vocals that offer one no choice but to be fully present with the music. Over three minutes and thirteen seconds, the singer aims to escape the chaos of everyday life in search of peace and purpose, and ultimately, trusts there could be more to life than what meets the eye. The track opens with a soft, “I still believe there’s something bigger than what we can see / Something inside of you lives inside me.” In pursuit of a place of complete calm and harmony, Jane. explains the track, “is a song about peace. I can’t help but deny the idea that this is it. Or what we see in this reality, is all this life has to offer. This chaos will not define my reality.”
While the subject matter across the collection can be somber, “Beach Inside” includes bouncy production that subtly evokes the sense of joy the artist aims to find, painting a true portrait of the human condition. Jane. continues, “This metaphorical ‘beach inside our heads” is an escape. It’s one of the first times I’ve experimented with groove for any Jane. projects. The song has a certain ‘joy’ in the production that I wanted to almost avoid for this project, but I ended up feeling it was necessary to have on the project as it’s such an important part of our human experience.”
The EP’s first single, “Sun In My Eyes” sees Jane. release a long-held trauma that the musician has never before revealed in his music, one that recounts a time during his youth he was forced to quickly confront the preciousness of life. “I was involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident that showed me the preciousness of life in one quick moment. A moment that has never left me. Something I carry with me everyday of my life. It’s insane that the sun, which is one of the most cherished and beautiful things in my life, was also the main catalyst to this accident, one of my most feared, and terrifying memories of my life. This song almost feels like a confession. Something so delicate and private, something that I am so fearful of being judged by. But it feels so important to share. It’s a story that is as a part of me as my cultural identity. It’s something I can’t escape.”
Paraj Jain, the writer, producer and singer behind Jane., was raised between India and the U.S. to an Indian father and half-Black mother. The multiracial artist grew up bouncing between homes, unable to see himself reflected in media, and unsure where he fit in. Now, through the latest iteration of his musical project Jane., a play on his last name, the musician is ready to reintroduce himself as he fully embraces his own identity, unpacking his lived experiences and further establishes his musical vision. leading with honesty and spirituality, meeting himself exactly where he is.
Jane.’s debut LP, What A Wonderful Time To Be Barely Alive arrived in 2021 and is a project that Jane. describes as made emotionally and almost physically in the clouds, and free from everything, unbound to anything. The album caught the attention of several tastemakers, including a spot on Spotify’s Fresh Finds Indie playlist. EARMILK wrote the project’s second single “For You, For Blue,” is “Hypnotic from the start…The production feels reminiscent of Mazzy Star with the simple and spectral guitar melody.” Mundane Magazine described his debut single “Ingenue” as “…music that lasts, music that doesn’t pander to taste and trend; rather, this is music that transcends trend, it has defined us and it continues to permeate our daily lives.” American Pancake also praised the track, writing Jane.’s vocals are “lush and intimate vocal aesthetic with bouncy surfside melodies and a pop indie flavor..vibrant, lovely…”
In the Spring of 2022, Jane. joined indie-pop duo EXES on tour followed by a string of dates supporting English indie-pop artist Suki Waterhouse. In December 2022, Jane. headlined a hometown solo show at Los Angeles’ Resident. Now, in 2023, after completing another set of shows both supporting Waterhouse and playing in her live band, and joining Waterhouse at Lollapalooza Argentina, Lollapalooza Chile and Lollapalooza Brazil in prior weeks, Jane. is gearing up to release his most honest, vulnerable work to date, one that is firmly grounded in reality as he embraces who he is like never before.
Celeste was produced by Jane. himself, along with Peter Labberton (St. Vincent, Sleater-Kinney, Parquet Courts, Weyes Blood), and Mike Derenzo. It was mixed by Labberton as well, and mastered by Jeremy Lubsey.
Celeste, the ethereal, intimate EP by Jane. is out everywhere now via Good News Only. The profoundly romantic track “Made For You” and its lyric video are out now. Keep up with Jane. on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and stay tuned for more to come from the captivating singer-songwriter.