After releasing her viral smash “I’m not Pretty” and her debut EP, How Are You?, in 2021, Canadian pop singer-songwriter JESSIA has been on a solid rise. She has traveled the world with OneRepublic, Dean Lewis, and Maroon 5, opening for them on sold-out tours and international performances. She has also racked up over 375 million streams globally, impressing the masses with hits like “One of the Guys,” “Nobody Hates You,” and more recently, “He’s A 10.” For a lot of fans, JESSIA is their go-to, their artist, the one they turn to for emotional pop music. But on JESSIA’s new single “One Before The One,” she accepts that she is not everyone’s first choice.
On “One Before The One,” JESSIA takes ownership of the fact that she has not yet been end-game for the people she has dated. With a conversational attitude, she tries to figure out what keeps going wrong. Over pensive acoustic guitar and light piano, she sings, “I don’t really think I’m the problem, but I got no way to prove it” and “Maybe this is just my purpose / To make you realize / Exactly who and what you want.” In the choruses, she concludes, “I’m only perfect if I’m practice / Just slightly not enough / Always the one before the one,” and against the warm backing vocals, these lines almost come across as JESSIA being content with this status. You can check it out below.
About “One Before The One,” JESSIA explains,
“‘One Before The One’ is for the singles this season who are bombarded with pictures of their exes in new relationships. It’s for anyone who felt like they were always used as the ‘practice run’ partner. People become reflective and reminiscent this time of year, which can be hard when there are so many songs about love and connection being played everywhere. I want this song to give the brokenhearted a safe space to feel seen. Though the song is subjectively sad, I feel warm every time I listen to it, as I wrote it from a place of acceptance and finding power in that. I’m excited to release a scream in your car, cry to your ceiling, breath of fresh air kind of song to get us through the holidays.”
You can listen to “One Before The One” on platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.
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