UK indie singer-songwriter JK Jerome shines on the elegant ‘I Just Want To Soar’, an enchanting new single that sets the tone for his forthcoming debut EP. The Shropshire-born artist, who has previously received support from BBC Introducing Sussex & Surrey, delivers a cinematic and ambitious track that feels like a significant evolution in both sound and songwriting.
Following ‘Profanity’ in May and ‘Any Moment Now’ in June, ‘I Just Want To Soar’ expands JK Jerome’s palette. Shuffling guitar work and rising vocal hooks are joined by carefully layered instrumentation, while a synth motif running beneath the chorus gives the track a distinctly modern edge. Where his earlier material has leaned more towards the stripped-back singer-songwriter tradition, this latest release embraces a more expansive and experimental production style.
At its heart, the single is a song about ambition, admiration, disillusionment and acceptance. Its emotional arc reflects the process of letting go of one vision for the future and finding the determination to begin again on different terms. That sense of transition gives ‘I Just Want To Soar’ a reflective quality, while its increasingly atmospheric arrangement provides a fitting backdrop to JK Jerome’s desire to push his music somewhere new.
Discussing the release, JK Jerome says:
“This song is about aspiration, the journey of being in a band and dreaming big and having to let go later on. It’s about coming to terms with that loss and then finding the strength to start again on my own terms. To discard aspirations of success as an end and to see the journey and the need to keep creating as the reason in itself. It’s also part of a move away from acoustic singer-songwriter material towards a more experimental sound. Inspired by glitchy textures, synth pads and electric analog delay. It’s also a celebration of finding the right person to work with and finally trusting in them to produce with a similar vision in mind”
The track arrives with considerable experience behind its creator. Before the JK Jerome project took shape, the artist performed live on BBC Radio 2 with Dermot O’Leary, recorded sessions with Mahogany and supported artists including Goldfrapp. More than one million Spotify streams have followed, alongside appearances at Boardmasters, BST Hyde Park and the Isle of Wight Festival.
There is already a growing network of support around the new project, with Amazing Radio backing the release in both the UK and USA and further encouragement coming from the UK blog community. That momentum makes ‘I Just Want To Soar’ an intriguing introduction to the debut EP, particularly as JK Jerome continues to move beyond the confines of conventional acoustic songwriting.
With its blend of guitar-driven indie, electronic textures and emotionally searching lyrics, ‘I Just Want To Soar’ captures an artist embracing change rather than resisting it.
