Jake Isaac FAULT Magazine Cover Interview

FAULT Magazine X Jake Isaac

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the incredibly talented singer-songwriter, Jake Isaac, to discuss his new album, “For When It Hurts”. Isaac’s music is known for its soulfulness and deep musicality, and in this interview, Jake Isaac talks about his inspiration for the album, his songwriting process, and his collaboration with Jack Savoretti. He also shares how his upbringing and background have influenced his music and how his style has evolved since his last album. Join us as we dive deep into the themes of vulnerability, honesty, and forgiveness that make this Jake Isaac album a must-listen.

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new album, “For When It Hurts”?

The Inspiration behind this record was my own journey and experience of trying to get relationships/friendships right but missing the mark. It was also inspired by those around me who had also experienced similar things in the own journey of relationships, particularly love.

Your previous album was titled “Honesty”. How does “For When It Hurts” build on the themes of honesty and vulnerability in your music?

I feel like I should’ve probably called this new record “even more honest” lol. Lyrically I’ve leaned into being even more transparent with feelings that I so often find hard to articulate and I’m learning to communicate. Even socially, I feel like I’m only just starting to get comfortable in my own skin in terms of making more soulful music. I feel like a combination of these factors is what really communicates a journey of vulnerability etc.

What message do you hope listeners take away from your new album?

I’d really love listeners to be able to identify with the need to the honest and transparent particularly with the ones we love. If relationships font grow they can often fall apart and i hope that having songs for when things get hard helps people to hold on a little bit longer to the ones they love.

How has your background and upbringing influenced your music?

My upbringing impacted my music big time. Growing up in church and then being exposed by my dad to music like Paul Simon, James Cleveland, and Jimmy Cliff, so much of those sounds and feelings got wedged into my subconscious and I’m so grateful for it. I feel like that exposure was the beginning of the my understanding of what soul music is supposed to sound be and can sound like.

Can you describe your songwriting process for this album?

A lot of the songs for this album came to me as ideas as I was doing life. I’d be washing up dishes after dinner and maybe a thought about an argument or conversation during that day would be going around in my subconscious and I’d end up humming the words to a random melody. I’d literally stop what I was doing grab my phone and voice note that idea immediately. Next I’d get in my writing room and flesh out that idea. Very few of the songs on this record came from sitting down in a room and planning to write songs!

Your new album features a collaboration with Jack Savoretti on the track “When It Hurts”. How did this collaboration come about and what was it like working with Jack on this song?

Jack is a legend. We started following each other on social media about a year and half ago. every now and then we would touch base about any new releases etc. It was just a genuine sense of appreciating each others work! After about 6 months, I had started this idea of ‘When It Hurts’ with some friends, and I literally thought after the session, what it would be like to hang out with an incredible raspy Italian singer on this one…I reached out, he hit me back immediately and the rest is history. So grateful to jack and what he brought to the song, he makes it sound like a movie soundtrack!

Your music is known for its soulfulness and deep musicality. How did you develop your style, and how does it come through in your new album?

When I first started out, so much of my music was influenced by the singer-songwriter / folk side of what I grew up on because I felt like there wasn’t really much of a place for modern soul music in this country. I feel like nowadays though, things have changed and there’s so much more appreciation of the genre. For me this whole journey to this album has been liberating as its helped me to become my self and so I’ve found the more I’ve leaned into that – the more my style has developed. I still feel like I’m scratching the surface, but I definitely feel like the more I focus on being more comfortable in my own skin the more my music will evolve hopefully lol.

What was the most challenging aspect of creating this album?

The most challenging aspect of making this record was probably not having the budget to record a whole orchestra etc lol. In all seriousness, I made/produced this little record in my home studio and sometimes you’ve got to make do with what you’ve got right? I feel like this has its pros and cons, but either way I’m proud of it and proud of the journey.

How has your music evolved since your last album?

I think I am slowly but surely streamlining the type of music I make and I think this album is on step closer to really evolving from the last album and solidifying this creative process.

What do you consider to be the most important theme of your new album?

I would say the most important theme to me on this album would probably be forgiveness…everyone makes mistakes, particularly in relationships, but our ability to learn and forgive can often determine the success of that friendship/relationship.

What is your FAULT?

I forgot to take the clothes out the washing machine again.