Singer/songwriter Jann Klose has released his 7th album Surrender, featuring a number of singles, notably “Pilot Light”, “Flesh and Blood”, “Sugar My”, and the latest “Surrender”. Klose’s music is primarily acoustic based, appealing to fans of power-pop and yacht rock.
“There’s a cohesive idea of the record, ‘Surrender,’” Jann says. “It’s a journey of overcoming and going through the good, the bad, the ugly, and coming out on the other side still wanting to experience new things.”
This album features a good mix of upbeat numbers, such as the title track, “Flesh and Blood”, and the more rockin’ “Even If It Takes A Lifetime”, combined with standout ballads like “All The Way Down” and “Stay The Same”. “Here In My Heart” is another feel-good pop number, featuring a live singalong throughout. Included also are 3 versions of “Love You The Most”, a duet with Alicia Madison – there’s the main version, an acoustic take, and a Spanish version. (The song, which charted in South Africa and North America, was recorded for the movie soundtrack of “Married Young” now available on Amazon Prime. Jann and Alicia sang a Spanish version (“Te Amaré Más”), which found it’s way on radio in Brazil.)
Surrender is available at Jann’s site on CD and Vinyl!
Singer/songwriter Jann Klose was born in Germany, raised in Kenya and South Africa, and eventually wound up in New York. Klose is currently working on his 7th album Surrender, for 2023 release. From Surrender there are new 2 singles / videos – “Sugar My” (released in April) and his latest “Flesh And Blood” (released July 22). Both tracks written by Jann Klose w/ Alex Forbes are catchy pop, upbeat, with Klose’s wide ranging clear vocal, acoustic guitars, and backing band. A change of pace here (on my pages), minus heavy guitars or thundering drums, but for something new and easier going, check ’em out!
In the first single release – “Sugar My” Klose sings – “Up is down, day is night — not what it seems! Like Alice in Wonderland, stuck in-between.” The song is a commentary on the sometimes baffling and inexplicable state of the world today.
Jann recalls the writing session with Alex Forbes – “We wanted to create a feel of a sort of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ type vibe where there is a palatable sense of confusion and one is not entirely sure what’s real and what’s not. We wrote it at the onset of the pandemic, so it was very much a strong reflection on how we were feeling ourselves!” Jann then joined producer Marcus Dembinski to record the single, which in true pandemic style started in his bedroom studio until they could access the recording studio. “Well, at first it started there anyway and then, as things opened up, we tracked live instruments at Studio G in Brooklyn, New York,” recalls Jann.
For the song’s unique video Jann reunited with video director, Alex Vishno, who also worked on the music videos for his “Love You The Most” and “Pilot Light.” Alex recruited Eileen “EJ” Jaworowicz to choreograph and co-direct, and she brought in the 10 incredible dancers in the music video. Looking at the visuals and concept for the video and how it connects with the theme of the song, the music video for “Sugar My” celebrates this unity beautifully. – “It was really my manager, Morey Levovitz and Alex Vishno with EJ that conceptualized the idea. I think they intentionally sort of put me into a situation in which I kind of knew what to expect but only fully started to realize what they were going as we were shooting. As you can tell, there’s a lot of trust involved, but I also knew that they got the song and what it was about, so I went with it. The idea is that people in the video start morphing from a state of disconnect into an open, free state where they become ‘liberated’,” remarks Jann on the concept idea behind the video. Jann has just one wish for those who hear and see “Sugar My.” – “I hope that people will love it as much as we do. It’s a really fun, upbeat tune with a cinematic production vibe to it. ”
Jann Klose’s latest single is “Flesh and Blood”, again written with Alex Forbes – “Writing with Alex is a real gift. She fills space when I draw a blank and vice versa. We have developed a great friendship and there’s a lot of trust between us. It grows with every song. We had already written other tracks for my upcoming new album, including ‘Surrender’ and ‘Sugar My’. When we got to ‘Flesh and Blood’ we had settled in to a very open and reflective approach that has worked for us in the past with the difference being that we wanted to go deeper and dig further into human behavior.”
Explaining the theme and inspiration for the single –“When Alex Forbes and I were in the writing session that yielded ‘Flesh and Blood’ our aim was to talk about a society that feels disconnected. People feeling disconnected from each other. Our “addiction” to technology… And instead asking for a return to nature, healing divisions and finding our common humanity.” On the production (w/ Marcus Dembinski) Jann recalled –“The arrangement credit [for the song] really must got to Marcus! He created a beautiful — and more progressive/rock — structure for the track that lifted it to a state I didn’t imagine until he shared his ideas with me. I loved it immediately. His drumming on the track is very powerful,”
For this video (which was premiered with GaloreSA.) Jann once-again worked with video director, Alex Vishno, and Choreographer, Eileen “EJ” Jaworowicz at the Lee Lund School of Dance and filming took place in Milford, Connecticut during the last week of June 2022.
As with his previous music video for ‘Sugar My’, this production was once again a collaborative effort between Jann’s label, Honey Rose Records, Big Management and Alex, EJ and Marcus – “I feel quite lucky that I have this great team in my corner. There is never a reluctance to speak openly about what we are going for and to make changes if necessary. I love working through dance and ‘Flesh and Blood’ gave us an opportunity to tell a story about beauty, innocence and healing through movement, music and re-connecting with nature which I think is somewhat of a lost art. I don’t want to give too much away but the visual aspects of this, I feel, are pushing all of us to a new level.”
Jann has performed as an actor and singer in touring companies of Broadway musicals, including “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Jekyll and Hyde,” and “The Who’s Tommy” . He has won 4 Independent Music Awards (IMAs). His podcast, Making Sound with Jann Klose has featured industry legends like Renaissance’s Annie Haslam, Frank Bello (Anthrax), Simon Kirke (Bad Company) and kicks off Season 5 this autumn.
Outsider Rock 