Dance, take risks and feel comfortable in your own skin.
The British artist returns with a new stage where the dancefloorsensuality and creative freedom coexist in the same sound universe.
With a career that has managed to evolve between pop, electronics and emotional sophistication, Jessie Ware He is going through one of the safest and most ambitious moments of his career. Their new album presents different sonic facets: songs for the dance floor, intimate moments and a much more confident energy that ends up enveloping the entire project. Jessie He talked about the process behind the album, the pressure of releasing singles, the influence of the dancefloor on his music, the visual construction of this new era and the exciting return to Mexico City.
Indie Rocks!: First of all, congratulations on the new album.
Jessie Ware: Thank you, thank you.
GO!: How excited are you? We've been lucky enough to listen to some singles and I feel like they're quite different from each other, don't you think?
JW: Yes, totally. I never want people to feel like they completely understand the album before listening to it in its entirety. That's why we chose to start with a song like “Could Get Used To This”, which works almost as an introduction to the universe of the album, as if saying: “ok, get used to this.” Then we get to something much more geared towards dancefloor as “Ride”, and then songs like “Automatic”, “Super Bloom” and “Sauna”.
I wanted people to understand from the singles that this album has many moods different. But when you listen to it in full, it all ends up making sense.
GO!: Speaking of the singles, do you think a lot about the order in which they come out or does it just flow? In the end they are the first presentation of the album to the world.
JW: Yes, of course we thought about it a lot. Singles have the function of attracting as many people as possible. They are an invitation for people to want to enter the album.
With “Could Get Used To This” It made sense because it opens the album and also marked the beginning of this new stage. But that doesn't mean they're necessarily my favorite songs. I have so many favorites on this record that will probably never be singles, simply because that's how the industry works and you have to play the game a little bit.
If it were completely up to me, maybe I would throw “Mr. Valentine” like simple or I would do things differently, but you also have to listen to the label, understand the dynamics of social networks, TikTok and how the way you promote music is constantly changing. You have to be flexible. Maybe I'm still a little old school in the way I understand all this, so I try to listen to people.
GO!: Has there been a time in your career where you were right and the label was wrong? How to say: “I told you so.”
JW: (Laughs) I don't know. The truth is that my label has been very good to me. We have a very collaborative relationship. For example, when we relaunch What's Your Pleasure? with the edition deluxewe managed to convert “Remember Where You Are” as a single although it was already on the album before. I felt very strongly that that song deserved to have its own moment and be celebrated in another way.
So yeah, I think in the end it's collaboration. They give me a lot of creative space and let me make a lot of decisions, but I also have to listen to their point of view.
GO!: When I heard “Ride”, for me it was like a breath of fresh air because I love that more electronic and music-oriented side. dancefloor by Jessie Ware. Did you feel like going back to that was almost part of your DNA?
JW: Completely. I wrote that song two years ago and I had been wanting to release it for a long time. Literally every month I said: “Can we get 'Ride'?” I had to contain myself a lot.
But I think patience worked because when it came out, it surprised people. Some fans had already heard it because I played it a couple of times live and I knew there was a desire to hear it officially. I felt like the audience was ready for her and I wanted to show them that I listen to them too. It was like telling them: “ok, you've waited long enough, here it is.”
GO!: The video is incredible. Tell me a little about that.
JW: Thank you! I love that it's shot on film. I had this idea of getting a sexy cowboy and I was very lucky because I ended up convincing James Norton at a friends party. I basically cornered him and said, “Can you ride a horse and become a sexy cowboy for my video?”
I thought that he would be much more of a protagonist and that I would appear less, but the idea grew and ended up becoming something very fun. I was terrified, but also very proud of the result.
And the reaction has been incredible. Not only from my fans, but also from the moms and dads outside my children's school. I thought they were going to judge me horrible and they ended up congratulating me. they gave me high fives and they told me: “great job.”
GO!: I think the word “sassy” has come up a lot around this new era of Jessie Ware. Do you agree?
JW: Yes, there is definitely a little more sassiness right now. I'm having a lot of fun. I feel very confident in myself, in the stage of life I am in, in my career, in my body, in my femininity. I feel comfortable with my identity and I think that naturally reflects in the music.
GO!: I also love how you play with references western and album within “Ride”. That kind of introduction The Good, The Bad and The Ugly It's brilliant. How was it born?
JW: Thank you. I wanted to play with the idea of mixing the western and country with disco. It seemed like an interesting place to experiment with genres.
In the song I'm almost calling out to someone, inviting them to become my cowboy. There came a point where I felt like I had said enough with the lyrics and I wanted the hook to explode in a different way, not necessarily with me singing.
We were playing a lot in the studio, dancing, trying out absurd ideas, and suddenly I started making this super obvious reference to Western cinema. Then we played it through a synth and we all started laughing because it sounded incredible.
We didn't even know if they were going to let us use it. We thought maybe it was just an internal studio joke. But the people of Ennio Morricone He gave us permission and I'm very grateful because I feel like it ended up becoming a very powerful song for the dance floor.
GO!: After releasing a record comes the whole part of playing it live and touring the world saying: “meet my new baby.” What plans do you have for this new tour?
JW: I hope that by the time the tour starts that baby will be almost a toddler and that people already know the songs and make them their own.
I'm already starting to imagine the show and I want everything to feel bigger. I'm going to play on venues larger, so the entire visual proposal has to grow as well. I want to take more risks, show my voice in different ways, feel connected to the audience and put on an exciting, beautiful and very lively show.
GO!: Many artists often say that their new album is the best they have ever made. What makes the Jessie Ware of 2026 different from previous years?
JW: I think this album brings together many references from different stages of my career. If someone follows me from DevotionI hope you can feel that I haven't forgotten that part of me.
It's not an exercise in nostalgia yet, but there is a much greater comfort with myself and with the songs I make. I feel safe, although I still try to surprise people.
And the love I received with the last albums also gives me a lot of confidence. When I went to Mexico for the first time it was a completely incredible experience. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better show.
GO!: That was exactly my last question. How excited are you to return to Mexico?
JW: I'm desperate to go back. In fact, by the time this interview comes out the concerts will probably already be announced. I'm playing two shows in Mexico City, so that means spending several nights there… and I honestly think it's one of the best cities in the world.
I am very excited to go out dancing again after the shows, eat amazing food and meet my Mexican fans again. I hope this is the start of many more dates together, maybe even in other cities in the country.
GO!: Thank you very much, Jessie. It was a pleasure talking to you.
JW: Thanks to you.
