Artist Interview: Jordan Higo is back with a new single, music video, and a tanktop

Born and raised in Huddersfield and now based in London, location isn’t the only thing that’s changed for Jordan Higo over the last few years.

Having cultivated a fairly traditional R&B discography prior to 2023, Jordan’s new single ‘Heavy’– to be released on July 24th– is the first taste of an edgier sound leaning more towards indie rock and alternative R&B.

He’s also a lot busier now. The co-founder of independent record label Ellemer Records, through which ‘Heavy’ will be released– with gigs, an upcoming debut mixtape release, with a tour to follow, he found a spare half hour to sit down with me and reflect on his hiatus and his new sound.

So, you’ve been away from the limelight for four years now?

Correct.

A lot can change in four years. For you, personally, artistically– what do you think has changed the most in that time?

I definitely have more of an idea on where my creativity wants to live now. I was very much a latecomer to the arts, and a lot of my career was creating while just scratching away at the surface. It was difficult to really express what I wanted, because I hadn’t explored enough yet. And I think this time away– just living life– is the best means for creativity. I wasn’t looking at life through the lens I have now.

I think also knowing I have an outlet for expressing what I’m inspired by is a big change too. I’m a lot more attuned to myself and notice (when I’m listening to music) what feelings are being evoked.

And just from a practical point of view, the skills that I’ve picked up in that time– getting more proficient on the guitar, piano, to sum it up, things have just come into focus really. It’s difficult to pinpoint one thing because you’re not necessarily in control of it.

It’s interesting you mentioned how previously, you struggled to express what you wanted to say. Your new single ‘Heavy’, is about you being stuck in this loop of impulse and regret, but you’ve also talked about how, even if you don’t get to a resolution or make sense of it at the end of it, that’s okay too?

Exactly that. I think if you had this alien who’d never lived a life come in and ask ‘what’s human?’, it’s impossible to explain it as such. Like you can’t explain what it means, but through music I’m able to explore how it makes me feel.

I’m not the best at talking about feelings, but, as soon as you add a melody, I feel like I can say whatever I want. It’s strange isn’t it? Because you’re putting it out there into the world, but it feels less exposing to explore all these uncertainties through music, even though millions– hopefully– of people are going to hear it.

This song in particular, it comes from a place of recognising that loop of impulse then action before you have a chance to rationalise whether those impulses are worth it in the long run. And I’m really happy to have access to an outlet to express these concepts.

With ‘Heavy’, it’s very noticeably different to what you were putting out before, when you were making more traditional R&B tunes. How did you get from A to B?

I think doing this for longer, and having a better understanding of what’s possible from a production standpoint, I found it was easier to describe and work towards a sound I really wanted to achieve.

There’s still that element of not being in control though. I can’t really put a finger on how I got from A to B. It’s such a day-to-day incremental process with little influences being picked up here and there. And then, all of a sudden, I’ve got a song in front of me that I absolutely love.

I wrote ‘Heavy’ mostly on holiday on an acoustic guitar and I connected with a now amazing friend and super talented musician, Conall Mulvenna (KONL). We started playing with some ideas and I really wanted my vocals to push back against the instrumental, because my vocals are quite delicate in this song. It just sort of seemed to birth itself. But there’s also influences from listening to Dijon, Mk.gee, doggone and late-career Prince.

We actually interviewed you in 2018 when your first single was coming out, so we’ve kind of come full circle. At the time, you mentioned you took influences from the likes of Pale Waves, Skepta and Fleetwood Mac. Have those influences stayed with you over those 8 years?

If I had to give a one-word answer, I’d say yes. Definitely. Even though they’re not directly in my creative sphere of influences now, like– I’m very unlikely to listen to a Skepta song to find that sound that I’m exploring at the moment, but it’s impossible to say that they haven’t stuck with me.

There’s a song on the mixtape that’s very Fleetwood Mac, actually. I think it’s been a bit of a struggle, the fact that I do like so much different music. But I’ve been very lucky with the team I’ve got around me to be able to bring it all into one place and make something that sounds like me.

I was going to ask if the rest of the mixtape is going to follow suit, or if there’s more variety for us to expect?

There’s definitely a cohesive sound that runs throughout most of the record. This song floats between R&B, indie, some rock too. And it’s the same for the rest of the songs. It’s not incredibly alternative, but I’ve got a curiosity for exploring things.

Nicholas Keliris produced the mixtape. He’s super talented and really patient, just willing to pursue any ideas I might have even if we don’t end up going with them. Not every idea is going to land, but yeah, there was a lot of experimenting that went on.

Although I’ve been releasing music since 2018, this is the first time I’m releasing music that feels like me. And it’s nice to look around and see where my music fits within this big ecosystem.

You looked like you had a lot of fun filming the music video. Was it more stressful behind the scenes?

No, it was pretty crazy though. I had three amazing friends with me, I’ve mentioned two but my backbone, Lewis Reynolds who I run our label with was there too.

Nick had this idea of driving around London with me out of the sunroof of his car, and you can see parts of the video are in slow motion which meant we had to put the song in double speed. So, I’m singing this song crazy fast while pretending I’m not looking for the police. I had to jump back into the car so many times because there were sirens coming from behind and police were just pulling out from everywhere. The volume in the car was so loud too so I could hear it out of the sunroof. The guys just had to endure it for a good few hours– props to them.

I also turned up with a lot of clothes because I hadn’t decided what to wear, and the lads were like, ‘you got a tank top mate?’. I was like, of course I’ve got my tank top. Yeah, big main character feeling driving through London there. The video is going to drop a little bit after the single and hopefully people are into it. If not, well, I had a good time filming it.

Jordan Higo’s new single ‘Heavy’ will be released on July 24th 2026. You can find his music on Spotify and all other major streaming platforms.