The voice has always been at the center of Jo Wedin's music. She's an artist who has experimented throughout her career by finding and developing her sound. Jo Wedin was born and raised in Sweden but nowadays adopted by France. She's been writing songs for the past few years, singing jazz and soul in hotels in Paris, all while touring mainly in France with her French band.
Jo Wedin's latest release, "Keep It Up," provides listeners with a wistful scope of meaningful lyrics that enhance the effervescent spirit divulged in the instrumentation. Enticing musicality comes leaping through your speakers as you grasp the quintessence of the timeless Jo Wedin's sonic offerings.
Revisiting a classic sound drenched in the nostalgic R&B/Soul era of the '90s and early '00's we hear her luscious timbres bring life to the subject of staying true to yourself; no matter what, social media and society encourage you to fit in. The cinematic essence of "Keep It Up" tours us through black and white footage that transitions into colorful scenes as Jo Wedin remains her sparkling self through harmonious bliss and reality.
Always one to stand apart from the crowd, the way that Jo Wedin portrays this message has us vividly mesmerized by her wisdom and thoughtful nature that encourages her to treat her audience as more than just listeners.
Jo Wedin drives home authenticity as she sincerely conveys her thought with listeners worldwide in "Keep It Up." Wrapping us in a warm embrace, the eloquent performance cascades with the tantalizing tenors structured throughout the instrumentation as Jo Wedin has us feeling empowered in this feathery realm of a dreamscape.
We love the message you radiate in your latest single “Keep It Up.” What inspired you to speak on such a crucial matter in today’s day and age?
I’m reminded of this matter every day. It’s become an obsession. I think we all have a hard time keeping up with the quick changes today and we will never find safety and security in this world because it’s always changing! If you don’t feel good within yourself, you might feel more and more useless and desperate because you’re unable to keep up. And the message "stay true to yourself" has become a common mantra today, you can see it all over. But on the other hand, our society couldn’t be more superficial. We take pictures and make videos of ourselves like robots. There’s no limit on how narcissistic we can be. I’m processing this for quite a while now; being too obsessed with myself, needing quick results and superficial attention. It’s a pity that we singers and artists have to focus so much on our image instead of the music.
How do you find “Keep It Up,” compares to other songs that you have previously released? What are some similarities and differences in the messaging and sound?
"Keep it up" compares to my latest releases in that I try to be as honest and make them as soulful as possible. "Keep it up" is more uptempo and a little more pop in its approach. I think I’ve been experimenting with my sound for a while, working with different people you can hear a little bit of everything in my latest releases; R&B, new soul, hip hop, and pop. I think it’s important to find your own sound, but not being afraid of trying something new. The common link in all songs is the voice. I want the voice to be as expressive as possible and I’m trying to develop it more and more. It’s been an obsession for a while because at one point I didn’t like my voice. I thought it was too clean and too high-pitched. Now when I’ve accepted it as it is I don’t hesitate to use it at its best. I want to try different melodic things and just enjoy my voice and singing. I’ve recorded all vocal productions on my own lately and the lyrics are getting more and more important too. I want to write things that move people, not just fit any other lyrics into the music.
Could you please share a glimpse into what the creative process was like when fashioning this single and music video? What inspired the vision for the visuals?
This is the first single that I made with a beatmaker (Max6mum) at a distance. I was contacted on Instagram and I liked what I heard. We worked on it, sending it back and forth and I really discovered, (maybe a bit late), the great thing about today’s music-making, how easy it is to collaborate with people living in other cities or other countries. It’s also one of the positive things, if there are any, with this pandemic; working on long-distance collaborations like this actually pushed me into making my own productions. I usually work on the toplines with the producer in his studio, but as I already mentioned this time I did it all by myself and I really liked it. I got to decide everything very freely, trying to find different textures and vocal harmonies. One thing led to another and I started trying out my own beats, playing around with synthesizers, etc. (But that’s future stuff!) I wanted to mention it because"Keep it up" made me realize what I am capable of. It’s very exciting! The vision for all the imagery around the single came to me one day when I was taking a walk not far from my neighborhood. I saw this huge staircase and I thought that this could be a perfect image for "Keep it up." The single cover is taken on this staircase and there are a few scenes in the video of me running up the stairs. It fits so perfectly well with the song. I wanted to have a lot of focus on myself, when I look at myself in the mirror of my phone and also in the mirror in the elevator, all symbols of narcissistic behavior. I enjoyed making it because there is no storyboard behind it, we improvised the whole thing and filmed it with an i-phone.
What has been the best piece of advice that you have received throughout your artistic journey?
To trust yourself and not wait around for someone to discover you. Just do your own thing.
