TRACK BY TRACK: JP Saxe Bares His Heart & Soul in New EP 'Hold It Together'

Happy New Music Friday, everyone!

If you know me at all, you know I’ve been waiting for the musical unicorn that is JP Saxe to release his EP. It’s finally here and he didn’t disappoint.

JP is clearly no stranger to wearing his heart on his sleeve, but with this EP, he goes even deeper. With his buttery angel voice, the surprising melodies that keep you wanting more, and the heart wrenching and so-relatable lyrics, he gives us a real musical treat.

Allow me to break his EP down track by track, with my favorite lyrics of each!

1. "25 in Barcelona"

This one has been a single for a while, so I know this one well. It sounds like a love letter to a love lost and it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Maybe it’s the story of him being in mystical Barcelona or hearing him sing about the grand distance between him and the past love that makes this song so good. Or maybe it’s because it’s JP and he does no wrong.

It’s just him and an acoustic guitar (from what I can tell), and it keeps the song so incredibly raw and real. When he sings “singing songs to you for strangers”, it kills me. Here he is singing such a personal song to all these people who have no idea what happened. Ugh, my heart.

Favorite lyrics: "I wonder how I crossed your mind / I'm sure I did but I'm curious what the thought of me felt like / Was it harder than you imagined it would be? / 'Cause when I missed your thirtieth it almost fucking killed me/ I'm halfway round the world with all these people / Happy in a foreign language / Where they don't know a thing about you / I'm halfway round the world in Barcelona / Singing songs to you for strangers / And trying not to think about you / This wasn't supposed to be about you..."

2. "If The World Was Ending" feat. Julia Michaels

!!!

This song has also been a single as I’m SURE you all know because it was basically the song of 2019. It features his now-girlfriend and singer-song writer sensation, Julia Michaels. Their chemistry is so palpable and the lyrics are some of the realest I’ve ever heard. This song is still climbing in the charts and fans are still losing their sh*t over it. That’s me. I’m those fans.

They sing about how fears are irrelevant, and it’s so true. We keep ourselves from loving people and doing so many great things because we think we have our entire lives to live – it’s sad yet magical to know tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

It’s definitely a song to inspire you to just love people whole heartedly already!

After checking out the official video below, be sure to watch our Tea Behind The Tunes segment with him where he breaks down everything you need to know about this gorgeous song!

Favorite lyrics: "I tried to imagine / Your reaction / It didn't scare me when the earthquake happened / But it really got me thinkin' / That night we went drinkin' / Stumbled in the house / And didn't make it past the kitchen / Ah it's been a year now / Think I've figured out how / How to think about you without it rippin' my heart out / I know, you know, we know, you weren't down for forever and it's fine / I know, you know, we know, we weren't meant for each other and it's fine..."

3. "Sad Corny F**k"

I feel like this song is JP in a nutshell.

Simple and beautiful lyrics, his voice, and occasional strums of a guitar. It’s perfection. It also has the cutest title. The way he sings his “oh”s in the chorus is like candy for the ears, and even though he says the F-word, to me it’s like a lullaby.

Favorite lyrics: "I keep your love notes in a drawer / I know you don't feel that way anymore / It just feels nice / Knowing you really used to / Love don't get better than you / And I know it'll just take more time / If I don't let the memories die / But in every girl's eyes / I just find some more proof / Love don't get better than you..."

4. "3 Minutes"

Okay I diggg this song.

It’s groovy and sassy as hell. It’s also relatable af because we’ve all been there, in a fight with someone who handles it completely differently than we do.

I’m obsessed with how he sings “we’ll have shaken off the habits of a different love” because that’s not an easy feat but so necessary.

Favorite lyrics: "You get really quiet when we're fighting / I talk too much and neither of us like it / But I just wanna fix it right away / And you're scared of regretting what you'd say / But maybe when we've been together long enough / We'll have shaken off the habits of a different love / And forgotten everything we always thought it was / Thank god it's us / You got a lot of great songs bout a lot of shit guys / You did more with 3 minutes than they'll do with their lives / And we'll buy ourselves houses with our heartbreak songs / Fuck everybody else who ever treated us wrong..."

5. "Explain You"

Ugh, you guys, this song turns me into a puddle of mush.

It’s been on REPEAT since it dropped at 9pm PST last night. It has brought me to tears multiple times. It’s everything – the eerie piano, JP’s emotional voice, and the lyrics totally transcend me into a different place.

He also opens the song mentioning a therapist, and I adore him for that. Yes, JP, normalize therapy!!!

I do want to shine a light on two lyrics from the ones below that just take my heart and run, which I've put in bold below:

Favorite lyrics: "It's been 10 months now / There really ain't too much I've figured out / There was just something bout being wanted / By someone who never knew what they wanted / I've seen some other people who are nothing like you / That's probably why it works and why it never could / I'm holding on to nothing, don't know how to let it go / So even if it's out of my control / I try to / Explain you to myself / But you never seem to sound right / I loved you fully but I'm growing up now / I loved you fully but fully means more now..."

6. "Hold It Together"

I love that JP ends the EP with this song. I feel like it’s the perfect conclusion to what we listened to before it.

It’s so sweet and all about newness. It sounds like he’s leaving all that sh*t in the past and he’s seeing the warmth and the light of a new love.

If his songs are any indication of what he’s been through, I’m beyond happy for him.

Favorite lyrics: "How am I missin' something that I didn't know existed like a week ago? / When I kissed your lips the first time / I had this feeling like I'd left something behind / I spent eighteen months thinking I was messed up / And I never learn to let it go / Now here you are shaking the fear that love could only ever be what I've already known / Love don't work if I don't hold it together / It all gets worse if I don't hold it together / And I'm afraid to love this way forever / I wanna let you know me ways I never would've let her / Take my heart and we can hold it together..."

What’s your favorite song off of JP’s new EP?!

If he wasn’t on your radar before, I hope he is now. He’s an artist who absolutely deserves all the attention and recognition he’s gotten thus far, and I can’t wait to see what 2020 holds for him!

If you can’t get enough of him, make sure to follow him below:

@jpsaxe:

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@younghollywood:

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@nicoleckoch:

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