Indie pop artist and proud Taurus, Jelani Aryeh talks with Atwood Magazine about what he’s been up to since his debut record, his latest single “I’m in Love,” and how he’s learning to ride the rollercoaster of the music industry.
Stream: “I’m in Love” – Jelani Aryeh
Since the release of I’ve Got Some Living To Do, Jelani Aryeh has done just that.
Leaving his childhood home in San Diego, moving to Los Angeles, touring with artists like Maggie Rogers, and now solidifying his next project Aryeh has lived up to the name of his debut album. Experiencing all the highs and lows that come with living, Aryeh finds appreciation for what life has brought his way: “I feel more grateful than I ever have in my life.”
Everything feels really good, I feel like I’m back in my body.
Aryeh is optimistic, re-discovering his drive to make art and open to where it may take him in the future: “I think for the first time in a long time I really just enjoy making songs again,” he tells Atwood Magazine. “It feels like something I have to do. I want to be self-sufficient and do this as long I can.”
“I met 3stacks [André 3000] last October and he said just learn how to ride the rollercoaster. At this time in my life I’m down for the ride! I want my music to take me where it needs to. Not sure where that is exactly.”
On January 19, Jelani Aryeh gave us a first glimpse into his sophomore record with the release of “I’m in Love.” It’s poppy, a little angsty, and do the lyrics sound a little too relatable?
Funny, ain’t it?
How you got me running to you?
All like there’s nothing to it
All like there’s nothing you could ever do wrong
‘Cause it’s tunnel vision
Shining a spotlight on you
Can we pretend it’s perfect?
Can we pretend it’s all the things that I want?
For Aryeh, that was the goal: “I sent the album out to friends and family and I feel like that was one that almost everyone was like, ‘Oh, I feel this, I love this, it makes me think of stuff in my own life and I can relate to this.”
While Aryeh felt that I’ve Got Some Living To Do and his previous works were “overly personal” and “too introverted,” his intent for this next record was to make something that everyone could resonate with, and essentially “vibe out to.”
And it’s not the first time this is leaving your lips
But I don’t mean to say you believe it exists, my love
‘Cause I’m in love
Shaking up the bottles and then blow me a kiss
It’s everything and anything, whatever you wish, my love
‘Cause I’m in love
As a sequel of sorts, this next album is a reflection of not only Aryeh’s artistic growth, but also his personal growth over time.
“It’s a natural progression from the last album,” he says. “I don’t think it’s really deviating in some like far territory, but the songs feel a little bit fuller. I’ve just come to terms with reality more just growing up, I think on the last record and music I’ve released in the past I was super naive and optimistic.”
I think it’s always gonna be just a natural process all the time of learning.
In terms of where he is in his life, Aryeh explains how his headspace, explorations, and intentions with this project have deviated since his debut album: “I just feel much lighter in myself. I’ve got a better sense of who I am and what I want to say. I’m back in San Diego. I think I was depressed around the drop of IGSLTD and afterwards. Living alone in LA was pretty terrible looking back. Although a lot of this new album comes from that place I don’t think it necessarily feels like that. My intentions are to travel the world with this album and to be open to whatever comes.”
I feel like screaming
Darling, my chest is burning
I can’t find the words to say it
I can’t find a way to make
much sense out of this
‘Cause it’s smoking mirrors
A fantasy version of us
Don’t wake me from this dreaming
Just let me hold on to the shame that I have
And it’s not the first time this is leaving your lips
But I don’t mean to say you
believe it exists, my love
‘Cause I’m in love
Shaking up the bottles and then blow me a kiss
It’s everything and anything,
whatever you wish, my love
‘Cause I’m in love
As an introduction to the upcoming record, “I’m in Love” effortlessly showcases the post-punk and pop influence that’s been saturating Aryeh’s musical consciousness. Pulling inspiration from iconic ’80s bands that his mom listened to such as The Smiths, Depeche Mode, and The Cure, to the popular music of the early 2000s including Katy Perry, Coldplay, and Gwen Stefani, Aryeh’s music is truly a sonic amalgamation of his life thus far.
I just feel much lighter in myself. I’ve got a better sense of who I am and what I want to say.
The soundtracks of his past are not the only places from which Aryeh has drawn inspiration.
Other mediums of art such as film and its imagery and impressions have “subconsciously” found their way into Aryeh’s music. Further, magazines and photobooks from the ’90s and early 2000s that he’d discovered at his friend’s bookstore in San Diego built a space for Aryeh to ideate.
Concepts, images, and ideas still can’t prevent the occasional creative rut which Aryeh faced in crafting the upcoming record.
“I think it just took me a long time to find out the identity of this project. I made over 60 songs and I was doing the speed dating with new producers every week in LA from late 2021 to the end of 2022. Although I’ve enjoyed most of those sessions I just didn’t feel like I was in any of those songs and it was bizarre starting from 0 every time.”
It was when Aryeh and his producer Jack Kolbe re-connected with Alex Craig – producer of “From These Heights” and “Someone to Hold You” – that they found their “magic trio,” and Aryeh can’t see having done it any other way.
While Aryeh hasn’t revealed a release date or name, he did detail the three ideal environments and experiences for listening to the record:
- Mount Soledad in San Diego (in between reality and an ethereal space)
- Driving (either with your friends or by yourself)
- In your room crying curled up on the floor
There’s something for everyone in the record and for “whatever you feel,” he notes – and if he had to describe it in three words? Pretty darn fun!
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Stream: “I’m in Love” – Jelani Aryeh
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