While some celebrities notoriously stay quiet about their personal lives, others are known for dishing on their friendships and relationships through their art. For musicians, especially singer-songwriters like Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter, listeners expect that so much of what they sing about actually happened in their lives.
For Joe Jonas, who released his latest solo track “Work It Out” from his new album, Music for People Who Believe in Love, in July, that might also be the case.
“It was scary at times, and also freeing,” Jonas told Billboard about the writing process.
As a reminder, Jonas went through a messy split from Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner in the fall of 2023. Together, the former couple share daughters Willa, 3, and Delphine, 2.
But, despite their messy falling out, which included Turner accusing Jonas of “wrongful retention of two children,” it seems Jonas isn’t focused on bad-mouthing his ex in his new era.
“I’m not trying to come for anyone on this album,” he said. “I’m not trying to put stuff on blast. I have a beautiful life that I’m grateful for. I’ve got two beautiful kids. I’m a happy person, and the music needed to resemble that — but also, the journey to get here.”
In fact, Jonas’ lyrics were so personal that it was the main reason he decided to release them solo instead of with his brothers Nick and Kevin Jonas as the Jonas Brothers.
“I noticed that [one of the album’s songs “Only Love”] was going toward the direction of some personal stuff that I went through,” Jonas told the outlet. “So I go to Kevin and Nick, ‘Hey, can I use this as a catapult to go explore what this sound could be, and also what I’m trying to figure out emotionally?'”
“They were very supportive,” Jonas said of his brothers. “Nick said, ‘Well, damn, I really like that song. But I get what you need to do, so go for it.'”
For now, fans of Jonas can only get a hint of what’s to come with his first single release from the album, “Work It Out.” In the upbeat song, Jonas hints at a breakup, and feeling especially low when everything ended.
“Stop being sad because you’re making the room uncomfortable / OK I get it / I know you’re feeling so miserable / Sometimes I wish I had powers to be invisible,” he sings.
If that was just the first single, we can’t wait to hear what else Jonas has in store. His new album comes out soon, on Oct. 18!
Before you go, click here to see a full timeline of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s divorce.
