The pop/R&B musician gets vulnerable on her latest sultry single.
Hamilton/Toronto-based singer-songwriter Julianna Jones has been hard at work in 2021, releasing two singles in preparation for her upcoming debut EP. The pop/R&B musician released "Can't Help It" on June 18, 2021, a sultry single about grasping onto the last threads of a toxic relationship.
"I would describe my sound as pop, R&B, classy, street, sexy and feminine," said Jones. "I'm really trying to break the barriers of being stuck in one genre, and be inspired by the ones around me. I love the singer-songwriter aesthetic as well, a lot of my major influences right now happen to be songwriters. I'm currently in love with Olivia Rodrigo and Julia Michaels, but I pull a lot of inspiration from Ariana Grande, Summer Walker, and Larkin Poe."
Creating "Can't Help It" was a long, stressful process for the singer.
"I wrote the song over a year and a half ago in a songwriting session with my good friend and producer Garrett LaJoie, and a lot of the lyrics flew out naturally because of the experiences I was going through at the time," said Jones. "I remembered reading a poem the night before the co-write about helping a person out of a burning house, yet they're the ones who started the fire- and I thought that was super relatable. Sometimes I find myself in relationships where I feel the need to help "change" them. Analyzing the heartbreak I was going through was cruel to my healing, but I heard what I needed to hear when writing my notes down for this song."
The pop artist had a little help from her friends Garret LaJoie and MILANOMUSIC after the original producer failed to come through.
"My good friend and producer of the song, Garrett LaJoie, was also a co-write on the tune," said Jones. "My good friend MILANOMUSIC mixed and mastered the song. Before this, Garrett had restructured the project after receiving a demo from a previous outtake that we never used. "Can't Help It" was written in 2019 and the plan was originally to have this song be the first to release with my rebrand, but under really shitty circumstances, the project took a lot longer than expected, and this really had nothing to do with COVID-19. It went through tons of reproduction with another producer, and that unfortunately ended up falling through. I thought I was never actually going to release this song. The process taught me that I really needed to take my time and choose who I trust with my projects, and who has the best intentions when working with me."
Jones prefers to write from a place of vulnerability- and on "Can't Help It", she expresses feelings of shame, heartbreak, and anger.
"The lyrics hold such personal meaning to me, as I was going through a "situationship" break up at the time in 2019," said Jones. "I came to realize I was stuck in a cycle of toxic habits with this guy I had been friends with for a long time. We always had ups and downs and it was never ever healthy, even when we were on good terms. Once I came out of it and started writing the song, I realized that I had a lot of personal attachment to him and the relationship, and no matter what he did wrong, I couldn't help but fall in love with him. My favourite line in the song is, "I should've known that playing with fire, will only get you burned/ I should've known, I gave him the lighter." It just goes to show that it always takes two to tango, and to never put fuel on the fire and make things worse by staying with someone you shouldn't be with."
Jones wants her listeners to start taking red flags seriously, and to remove themselves from bad relationships as soon as possible.
"Don't settle because you love them and know your worth, especially as a woman," said Jones. "When you know deep down and have that gut feeling that they're playing you, don't stick around for that 1% of them making you happy, and then feel like shit 99.9% of the time. You act like you don't know the truth, but you know you love them, even if its unhealthy. It takes great strength to leave, but it will be better for you in the long run. I don't wish what I went through upon anyone, but if I didn't go through it, "Can't Help It" would've never happened, so I'm kind of grateful for the unfortunate event."
You can help support Julianna Jones by streaming her music, and by following her socials linked below.
Upcoming gigs:
(Postponed due to COVID-19.)