Jordan Alexander Says We're Having 'Melancholic Summer'

We talk star-crossed lovers, Toronto and the evolution of sound with future pop-icon.

POSTED 13.08.24 13:04 BY KAYLEIGH MCCALL

After being swept into the spotlight, Gossip Girl alum Jordan Alexander is ready to take her throne as the people’s pop princess. Her debut album, Now You’re Caught Up, is set to be released in September — the love child of her flair for dramatic and emotional vulnerability.

We found out all the juicy details in conversation with Toronto’s very own golden girl.

You gained traction due to the Gossip Girl reboot … as both an actor and singer do you find yourself trying to separate the two arts — do you prefer to be recognized as a singer first and foremost, or are you happy to use the momentum of Gossip Girl fame to push you to pop-stardom?

I’m happy to do whatever. I feel like anything that comes into my life that I’m really excited about is worth pursuing, and I do think that both of these avenues feed into each other. Obviously, acting gets more attention at this point, and then when I’m not acting, I still have fun creative stuff to do. I feel like it’s all beautiful together, and I could play a role where I’m an artist and could sing or whatever.

Time to try out for a musical!

Exactly. Like for my music videos, depending on what kind of music video we’re doing, you might need a little bit of acting.

They definitely feed into each other. How does the vulnerability of singing on stage compare to that of acting in front of a camera?

For me, it’s a lot more nerve-wracking to be on stage, which I imagine would be the same if it were, like, theatre … like live theatre.

Definitely.

With TV and movies, you could get another shot at it. There is a nerve-wracking essence in that you’ll only get maybe two or three … it’s not infinite, right? But if you feel you kind of bungle the first one, you can go back—

You can do it again.

That’s just it. But also, that’s the fun and beauty of it. Like, I’m obviously gonna fuck up on stage—it happens—but it’s definitely very anxiety-inducing.

Mistakes happen. So, how do you think your sound has evolved since you started releasing music?

It’s changed a lot. For one, I’ve started experimenting in production, not relying on other people to create the large body of the song. Before that, I was writing everything, but it was all on guitar, so the more intricate parts of the production were left up to other people. Whereas now, I’ll offer up a demo that probably isn’t polished enough to be released but has all of the elements that I want.

You have a lot more control …

Yes. The executive producer on the album, my friend Haviah Mighty, really encouraged me to dip my toe into production.

Definitely, keep the ball rolling. Now, if we’re allowed a bit of gossip: where do you get the inspiration for your lyrics? Any star-crossed lovers? Muses?

Yes, I definitely have a muse. It’s definitely a star-crossed lovers album. The first song on the album is called "Leaving Toronto," so this particular love story largely takes place in Toronto with the threat of moving to New York. It’s real … it’s just very real. I’ve also come to realize that I’m quite an emotional person because somebody said, “I wouldn’t have written all of these songs about this person if I hadn’t known them for a super long time,” and I was like, “Oh, I wrote an album about somebody I’ve known for a year.” I don’t know how to explain it; it’s just how I was feeling at the time. I just couldn’t get past it, so all of my emotional expression and songwriting was about this topic. "Leaving Toronto" was my first attempt to understand what was going on, so it’s the most raw, and then over the course of the album, I’m just becoming more self-aware—the last song kind of feels like acceptance.

So, the album is a journey?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

What song on the album do you predict will be underrated?

Oh, I already know this immediately. It’s a ballad, and I feel like sometimes ballads don’t get much attention … and also, it’s not a single. I feel like the people who get it are gonna really, really get it. I actually released a song in 2020 called "You," and it’s a raw piano ballad. I had a lot of people commenting that they really related to it, so if they knew me from that, then this song "I Don’t Wanna Lose You" is really gonna hit.

You’re gonna hurt everyone — I feel like I should be going through a breakup when I listen to the album.

Yeah, exactly!

You once described yourself as “dramatic with fashion,” if you were styling yourself for a music video what would you wear?

Right now, I’ve definitely been leaning into that dramatic era. I love bodices and long, flowing, dramatic skirts … you know what I mean? I just love a long skirt.

Oh definitely, me too. What’s the best thing about Toronto — give me a reason to visit.

Oh, okay! I would say the best reason to visit Toronto is our art scene because it is at such a fledgling stage of its development, and I think that is actually really exciting. Sometimes people have limited sight; they see what it is right now and think it’s not enough, but they don’t see what it could be.

Under the cracks.

Yeah! So, I would say the most exciting thing about Toronto is getting in on the ground level because the city is very forward-thinking, and a big art scene is quite literally inevitable.

Maybe I will have to visit. So, you’ve opened up for Kehlani, do you feel it’s easy to win over other singers’ fans?

Yes, so far. Actually, I just remembered that I opened for Jess Glynne one time—she’s a British artist. That was crazy; I guess her opening act got sick or something, and they were like, “Can you do it?” and I was like, “Yes … yes I can!”

We love Jess Glynne.

I’ve felt very warmly received by every crowd. Especially when Bif Naked took me on her Canada tour—we were very different; she sings punk rock songs and I was there with my guitar singing my breakup songs—but I felt very embraced by it. I always just assume people are gonna love me, so maybe that’s what influences it.

Manifest it, that works. We’ve heard of Brat summer we’ve heard of hot-girl summer … if a summer was named in your honor what would it be called?

Melancholic summer. It’s weird because I feel like I am quite a bubbly person, but there’s something about melancholy that is so incredible. I feel like it’s so complicated—melancholy isn’t necessarily sad; you could almost be enjoying it. Also, I’m not really much of a summer person. There’s so much pressure to be social, to be happy, and to have friends. Whatever, maybe I’m not the most social person, so feeling that pressure of summer, I’m just like, “Ugh, get rid of it.”

Get rid of it!

I’d rather rot in the winter. C’est la vie, or whatever.