After years spent refining her craft behind the scenes, Jade Rich steps fully into focus with her new track, “How We Were” that feels deeply personal without collapsing into sentimentality.
Written and produced in Los Angeles alongside WA-expat and producer Stephen Beerkens, “How We Were” captures the strange emotional weight of friendships that survive time, distance and personal upheaval. Built around warm indie-pop textures and reflective lyricism, the single leans into nostalgia without becoming trapped inside it. Rich frames memory as something comforting rather than painful, looking back at formative relationships with gratitude instead of regret.
“How We Were” feels less interested in chasing trends than establishing its own emotional language. Rich’s vocals sit at the centre of everything, clean and direct, carrying the kind of sincerity that doesn’t need overproduction to land. Backseat Mafia first wrote about her in 2023.
The single also signals the beginning of a major new chapter for Rich, arriving ahead of a larger body of work set to unfold throughout 2026. A launch show and fundraiser at Four5Nine at Rosemount this June will help support her forthcoming debut album, expected late 2026 or early 2027. That fiercely independent approach mirrors the wider story behind the project itself.
For years, Rich worked slightly outside the spotlight, touring internationally with Wanderlust and performing backing vocals for artists including Elli Schoen and Teischa, while quietly navigating a personal journey that eventually led to a late neurodivergence diagnosis. Rather than hiding from that experience, her solo work embraces it openly, exploring resilience, identity and connection with striking transparency. In an industry often obsessed with youth and immediacy, Rich’s emergence at 33 feels quietly radical in itself.
After major support slots, regional headline tours and growing recognition from triple j and the Western Australian music community, “How We Were” lands like the beginning of something much larger. Not a reinvention exactly, more the sound of an artist finally allowing herself to take up space.
Stream “How We Were” HERE.
