Joe Jonas had the name of his second solo album, Music For People Who Believe In Love, before most of the songs were written — and it set the tone for what the project would be.
"I didn't want to create something that was hateful, or angry, or finger-pointing," he tells GRAMMY.com. "I wanted to create something that was healing, and an idea that I have a lot of love to give the people in my life and the ones that are close to me… just being able to say, 'This is the love I have to share.'"
Naturally, all 14 tracks are about love in all its forms, whether he's singing about a new flame ("What This Could Be"), a past partner ("Heart By Heart"), his daughters ("Hey Beautiful"), or self-love ("My Own Best Friend"). Not only does the genre-blurring album live up to its title, but as Jonas says himself, it was "definitely helpful" in believing in love again.
Music For People Who Believe In Love wasn't just a way to process and move forward from his divorce, though (Jonas and actress Sophie Turner split in 2024). It was a chance for the pop singer/songwriter to show the world who Joe Jonas is as an artist, without the assistance of his brothers or his party-starting band, DNCE.
It was also an important step in his journey as a solo act. He admits that the lackluster response to his first solo album, 2011's Fastlife, initially left "a lot of scars," but between life experience and therapy over the 14 years since, he's more excited about making music than he's ever been.
"One album doesn't define me. I'm going to keep releasing music, because I'm constantly changing as a person and growing and learning," he asserts. "I've given myself a nice warm hug releasing this [album]. It's some of the most vulnerable parts of me."
Below, Jonas details some of the songs that helped him believe in love long before his own cathartic project came to be — and one from Music For People Who Believe In Love that gives him a similar feeling.
This song speaks to me because sometimes [love is] about knowing without needing to explain it. It's in the hand-holds, it's in the looks. [It's like] the old phrase "actions speak louder than words." There's a quiet confidence in this song.
Growing up, our dad would play the Beatles records in our minivan throughout Jersey. Some people were listening to Kidz Bop, and we were listening to the Beatles. [Laughs.] This [song] kind of molded me. It was one of my first introductions to the Beatles. I was just like, "Whoa, I want to write something like that." It encouraged me to be a songwriter.
[Jonas Brothers'] "Love Bug" was a nod to "Something," [and] some of our slower ballads. "Hey Beautiful" off the new record is an homage to "Something" as well.
This song is the definition of arrival — like, love is finally catching up with you. It's timeless, of course, it literally gives me chills every time I hear the song. And [Etta's] voice is just phenomenal.
It sounds so cinematic. You feel like you're taking a big breath of fresh air when [you're] listening to this song. I can think of many playlists, mixtapes, mix CDs that I've put this on. [Laughs.]
It feels like wanting to give someone the whole sky. It made me believe that love can be infinite, like you're lit up from the inside out. Sorry to get all poetic on you.
Coldplay was my first, and still, favorite band. They were probably arguably the best concert I've ever seen. I went to see them in Athens, Greece, last year. To see "Yellow" in person brought me to tears.
I cried when I was a teenager listening to it over a heartbreak, because it was "our song," and then [I cried] alone as an adult seeing them in person. I was flooded with memories of my childhood and our teen years, and [was] brought back to a simple place — that idea of the beauty of love, and how it can really hit you, and fill you up, and feel, like, ethereal.
It's self-explanatory, but it's about loving somebody exactly the way they are. You know, no edits, no expectations. It really reminds me that real love does not come with to-do lists. Just authentically loving the person the way you meet them.
Some people say it's all about compromise, but I really think it's like, you find your person, and you kind of mold together. I like to say agree on the big stuff, maybe not the little stuff, and that's completely normal.
It's soft and, like, almost whispered, but hits super deep, and that's some of my favorite music. It's like waking up to someone and you realize you started something new. The moment where love becomes real, and it's not just something you imagined.
Growing up, Bright Eyes were always on the emo playlists that I was listening to, and they were a big introduction for me in songwriting. I always looked up to the band.
A big win for me [was] finding that band, and me and Kevin bonding over listening to their music. [I remember] driving down the highway in Jersey going to little s—ty clubs or basements that [were] makeshift places to listen to music, and listening to that song on repeat.
It hits harder the older I get. [Laughs.] It's about love, but I think it's about change and growth through everything. It taught me that love isn't always steady, but it can be lasting. Love can take different shapes and forms, and love is not necessarily lost. It changes and takes new meaning.
I cried my eyes out seeing Fleetwood Mac play this in New York. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, but I think my eyes were the least dry.
It's very haunting. I got to see Mazzy Star perform in Sydney, Australia, in the Opera House, and that was one of the coolest shows ever. And it was even more mystical seeing them perform this. I believe the lead singer has a little shyness when it comes to being on stage, so the lights were really dark, and you could all be in your emotions.
It's the idea of dissolving into someone, or becoming a part of their world, that feels so honest and romantic, even if it's a little dangerous. You become that person, or you become each other, or you become one, or you want to be with them — some sort of mystical thing there.
The song is quite sad, actually, but it's also one of the most beautiful love songs. I think it's timeless.
This song is like a memory. I feel like everybody has a memory to it. It's love in motion, fleeting, euphoric, young. It reminds me of road trips or fire pits, late nights, parties.
It feels like something new is beginning. There's no cares in the world. That feeling of believing in love, and to think, Wow, there's more to this.
That kind of feeling, I was trying to capture in our "Heart By Heart" video. That song was playing in the relationship [that the song and video is portraying] a lot.
Obviously, Beach Boys' version is beautiful, but John Legend's version with Cynthia Erivo is just mind-blowing. There's a vulnerability that they both bring to this that I always have been obsessed with.
It's about love that's complicated and real. It sticks with you, even when it's hard and there's no explanation, and God is the only person that probably could explain it — or the universe, depending what you're into.
Like I said, love can come in many shapes and forms. It could be a feeling you have for your grandparent, or friend, or dog, or whatever it is, a partner, a child. No matter what it is, you're holding space for someone. I definitely have felt that kind of love in my own life, and it's one of the most powerful kinds out there.
It's a promise that no matter what, you hold space for them. Even if that person's no longer with you or in your life, or on this Earth, it's like, You'll be in my heart, I promise.
Growing up [I remember thinking], Why is this music arguably better than this film? Phil Collins didn't need to go that hard on the soundtrack of Tarzan!
Usher's cover also is mind-blowing. It was [on one of] those mix CDs where artists do Disney songs. It's crazy how good it is. It made me go, So you're telling me that I'm not the only one that thought this [song] was that good, and also, that Usher can bring it to a whole 'nother level? What the hell!
It was about a new person [who came into] my life and the joys [of that]. It's about new beginnings.
I remember seeing this person sip orange wine, and how pretty they looked, and kind of falling for that person. With the lyrics, I wanted to be really specific, set the scene. It's one that you feel transported to that moment.
It reminds me of summer love. Sometimes you have summer flings, and that's definitely [a tale of] one of them.