JC Stewart Releases Emotionally Devastating New Single
JC Stewart Releases Emotionally Devastating New Single – Two years ago, rising singer-songwriter JC Stewart, known for his consistent stream of polished, pop-leaning records, announced a hiatus from releasing new music.
By then, he had already earned his first entry on the Official Singles Chart with the 220 Kid collaboration “Too Many Nights.” In a heartfelt Instagram statement, he shared his decision to step back from music for a while.
After a reflective trip back home to Northern Ireland and reconnecting with close friends, JC Stewart is set to return in 2024 as a transformed artist, creating entirely different music. His comeback single, “Hey Babe, I’m A Mess, I’m Sorry,” marks this shift.
The song stands out for its emotional honesty and vulnerability, offering a painfully thorough self-examination of why a past relationship failed and acknowledging his own faults.
“Hey Babe, I’m A Mess, I’m Sorry” is not only a departure into a new emotional depth for JC’s music but also his first release as an independent artist.
The track begins with a quiet acoustic beat before swelling with choral accompaniments, amplifying the feelings of loss, hurt, and anger. JC’s raw confession, “I tried everything to numb the pain, but I’ve gone too far… because I can’t feel a thing,” encapsulates the song’s poignant theme.
Ahead of its release tomorrow (May 24) and an intimate show in London next week, we caught up with JC to discuss the significant musical and lyrical leap this song represents for him.
Interviewer: Hey JC! Welcome back…literally! How are you feeling?
JC Stewart: I’m just trying to do what I always do in life, which is running away from my problems at the minute, so… it’s fantastic. Joking! No, I’m really excited. It’s one of those things where you’ve spent two years working on something that gets you into a really artsy mood.
You think, “It doesn’t matter, I’m making it for me,” but then it comes out. And you do care. I definitely do care, but I’m really excited, and I know I couldn’t have done anything more with it.
Interviewer: That’s the best place to be in, surely, knowing you couldn’t have done anything more.
JC Stewart: Yes, and now especially because it’s the first one I’ve done on my own. I’m going pretty much on instinct, nobody’s had too much of an opinion on it until I finished it. And now it’s too late!
Interviewer: It did, in the best way, make me want to have a little cry.
JC Stewart: It is a bit depressing. I played it for my parents for the first time and they were like… do we need to get you home? Do you need a cup of tea? I did write it when I was going through a bit of a dark time, but then you come out of it and you go… bloody hell! But that’s what I love about music and art, you can put those intense emotions into something.
Interviewer: It’s extra special that this is your first song in two years, too. Why did you choose to return with it?
JC Stewart: Do you know what? This song wasn’t even meant to come out. For a long time, this was the song I wrote that led me into writing other songs. But this was just a song for me.
Then, I played it for friends who liked it, we developed it a bit, and my new team unanimously said they’d love to help me put this out as the first thing we do together. I actually, now, think this is exactly the right move.
Interviewer: It’s also your first release as an independent artist. What made you make the leap from being inside the big machine to operating more by yourself?
JC Stewart: The big machine has its positives and negatives, you know. I had a good time at Warner, and then I had a bit of a tough time. It came to an end mutually, I would say, from all sides, and then I left my old management at the same time.
I didn’t immediately hire anyone new or write anything new. I guess I had to rediscover if I really wanted to put myself through it again. I thought about all these different versions of the person I could be… then I realized that had been the problem the entire time.
Interviewer: Sometimes, it does take us leaving everything behind to have that lightbulb moment that, in hindsight, probably seemed quite obvious, right?
JC Stewart: Literally. I just had to go, “I’m a Northern Irish guy from a farm in Magherafelt, and I make the music the people who are my heroes—the people from 30 miles away—make, and that’s what I do.” That’s kind of where I ended up. I had to go away and make something first before I tried to see if anybody was interested. I couldn’t do it any other way.
Hey Babe, I’m A Mess, I’m Sorry by JC Stewart drops tomorrow (Friday, May 24) via Stanley Park Records.
