Q&A: Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers Showcase Sonic Evolution IN ‘I Love You Too’
FROM MELODIC INTROSPECTIONS TO RIOT GRRRL ENERGY – Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are set to release I Love You Too, a deluxe edition of their critically acclaimed debut album I Love You. This extended version, available on September 20 via their new partnership with Mom + Pop Music, features three brand-new songs: “Please Me,” “we thought it would be a good time but it was a bad time,” and “Dull” featuring Softcult.
The standout new track, “Dull” (feat. Softcult), offers a warm and melodic experience that thematically serves as a companion to their song “I Used To Be Fun.” On “Dull,” the band takes the more challenging route of introspection, choosing to sit still with their thoughts rather than staying busy as a distraction from them.
As Anna Ryan of the band shares, “Dull has similar themes to ‘I Used To Be Fun.’ We had been talking about how it feels to not have that motivation like we used to, to go out and party, and that it’s often harder to sit with yourself and be alone with your thoughts rather than just distracting yourself with thing after thing! The lyrics ‘find it hard to take it slow, burning out and now it’s shows’ really resonates with me and I think it’s like coming to terms with the fact that distracting yourself constantly is unsustainable. It’s good to learn to just sit with stuff and take it easy.”
In I Love You, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers established themselves as a band unafraid to explore new sonic territory, creating an expansive debut that belies their years. The individual strengths of the four distinct personalities in the band shine through, underpinned by a core dynamic of mutual respect and a shared love for their craft. This chemistry continues in I Love You Too, with the three new songs showcasing their impressive range — from the delicate, introspective melodies of “Dull” to the riot grrrl-inspired, wall-to-wall gang vocals of “Please Me.”
With I Love You Too, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers continue to defy categorization and challenge expectations, solidifying their place as a band that is never to be pigeonholed or underestimated.
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are heading to the U.S. for the first time ever this month to play Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival. In addition, they’ve announced a New York club date at Mercury Lounge on September 26 as well as an LA club date on October 1 at The Echo.
LUNA: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar yet, what kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
JAIDA: I feel like we always want to make a really safe space and make it feel really inclusive. Make it feel like everyone's like a friend and a part of what we're doing, so it's more like a group and community thing, rather than us making music and then people listening to it.
LUNA: If someone were to have just found Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers and they wanted to listen to one song that encapsulates your voice and vision, what song would it be?
JAIDA: I want to say “Salt,” which is our slower, heavier ballad, but I might have to say “Lights Out,” which is a more rock inspired song. I think it's a bit more fun and a bit more us.
LUNA: Are there particular moods or themes you find yourself gravitating towards when writing and performing? How do you channel these into your music?
JAIDA: I feel the theme a lot of the time is coming-of-age, like we started the band when we were in high school and it's grown from there, so all these emotions and feelings that we had in high school were written into our early music, and then the music right now is us discovering ourselves in our 20s. It's this big pathway of us figuring ourselves out, which is really interesting. You could go back to our earlier songs and you can really hear where we're at at that time. I feel like it's all coming-of-age style music.
LUNA: You have recently announced the deluxe version of your I Love You record to be released later this month and a huge congratulations is in order! What are you most excited for listeners to experience with the newly released songs?
JAIDA: I can't believe it. There's three extra songs in the deluxe album. There were three songs we never thought would see the light of day, but we really love them. We're so excited they're finally going to get out. I'm really excited for people to hear “Please Me” because it features The Linda Lindas, which is super exciting. There's also another song on there that we wrote when we were literally 16 years old. I'm excited for people to hear that, especially people that might have been coming to our gigs in the early days. They might recognize it from back then.
LUNA: How did the decision to release the deluxe version of the album come to life?
JAIDA: We just had a few songs that we thought were never going to see the light of day because they didn't make the cut for the album. But we were like, well, we really wanted to release these songs, but we didn't want to release them as their own entity, and I don't think they would have fit onto any other body of work, because they were written and curated for this album. It means that we can include these songs and show people these songs that we've worked so hard on, but without getting them pushed aside and forgotten about.
LUNA: What is your favorite song from I Love You Too and why do you love it? Is there a certain lyric or message that stands out to you the most?
JAIDA: My favorite song is probably “Dull,” which features Softcult. Ever since we wrote that song, I’ve been in love with it and thought it’s so good. I find it really funny because we wrote the song when we were extremely hungover, so every time I listen to it, I go like, wow, you can really, really tell in the lyrics how crap you were feeling that day. I think that translated so well, weirdly, you wouldn't think that being hungover would translate into a song well, but I think it really brought out this vibe because the whole song is about not wanting to go out anymore and being a bit over it and going dull. I think it was the perfect state to write that song in.
LUNA: Looking back at I Love You a year later, how do you feel about the album and its impact?
JAIDA: It's nearly been a year now since it's been out, which has been really, really crazy. I'm just so happy about how it was received, stoked the people loving the songs of it and relating to them. I’m really proud of myself and the band. I can't believe we went from being friends from school to recording and producing and releasing a whole album. I’m just really proud.
Photography Credit: @sheisaphrodite
LUNA: You also recently released your newest single “Dull” featuring Softcult. What is the inspiration behind the song and how was your experience working with Softcult?
JAIDA: “Dull” was mainly written when we were in this hungover state, but I think it came from this feeling of getting older, like we're still very young, but we are at this age now where we're switching over from wanting to go out all the time to being homebodies, staying at home, wanting to live a more wholesome lifestyle. That's the inspiration for the song. We were looking for a feature on it, because it just felt like it needed a feature. We asked Softcult and we didn't think they were going to say yes and didn't think they knew who we were. And turns out, they were big fans. I'm so, so glad that we got them on, because I just don't think it would have sounded anything like it did if we didn't get them to feature. They came on and they just added so much. It really just bought the song from being a song to being a good song.
LUNA: You are about to play your first ever shows in the U.S. later this month. What are you most excited to experience for this tour run?
JAIDA: Personally, I can't believe we're actually playing the U.S. It's incredible. It’s been a dream of ours for a long time, so really, really excited to come over. Just excited to see the U.S. I grew up watching Gossip Girl, so I think I'm probably going to go a bit crazy and go to the steps of the Met and pretend I'm Blair Waldorf. I think just to see the U.S. crowds and meet our American fans, I think if you look at our Spotify statistics, half of our fans are from America. Just really excited to connect with people that like our music over there and see what you guys are all about.
LUNA: Do you have any pre-show or post-show rituals to help ensure you play your best set?
JAIDA: It's a bit embarrassing, but we do this little dance thing, where we say ‘fuck yeah’ couple times, then we thrust in a circle. We have to do that every time before we go on stage. Sometimes we sing songs together. I feel like we seem like we're part of High School Musical because we're just singing all the time. We were singing “Girls” from The Dare before we went onstage. We also sing songs from this one Australian artist called BIG WETT. Mainly singing and doing weird dance moves. I feel like we also always do nervous booze. That's a must before we hop on stage.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Luna?
JAIDA: I guess just really buzzy and really excited. I think this year has been a big step up from last year, and just these past couple of years we've been living our dream, and we're being able to travel the world and release music. It's just very, very exciting. It feels like we're on the precipice of maybe having to do this as a full time job and doing it for a long time. I’m really excited about what the future brings and what it holds in it.
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