AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
What does love look like? One of the Jonas brothers says he has some ideas.
JOE JONAS: Love has taken many forms in my life. It could be a glance. It could be someone passing by. It could be new beginnings. Love is also forgiveness. It's also acceptance. Also sometimes it can be just a feeling of longing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHAT WE ARE")
JONAS: (Singing) At school, were you cool? Were you cruel? Little heartbreaker making all the boys cry. Don't lie, don't lie.
RASCOE: Joe Jonas has just released an album, "Music For People Who Believe In Love."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHAT WE ARE")
JONAS: (Singing) What we are is a lot. Tell you what we are not. Not our past, our mistakes. Free at last, and that makes, yes, it makes...
In the last couple years, being in kind of my lowest place in my life, having to look myself in the mirror and realize no one's going to come save me from my mess and say, you know what? I got to, like, get myself out of this funk and be kind to myself and not so hard on myself and say, OK, like, you know, you've had - you've been doing this - luckily, gratefully, you've been doing this for 20-some years, and then you just kind of look up, and you're like, oh, I don't know if I've been looking after my wellbeing as much as I could. So to be a bit kinder and show myself some love so I can go and love on others.
RASCOE: What I thought was interesting about this album - it's, like, really a mix of music styles on this album. Like, did you want to reimagine what a love song could be?
JONAS: Yeah, I feel like there was a lot of things that I felt like I wanted to explore musically. My father - he is a country singer, and so I was listening to old country, '90s country music, and then even alternative rock, some stuff that I became obsessed with when I moved to New York. I wanted to kind of marriage the two within this sound. And I think that's the beauty of music these days is that, you know, we could explore and we don't have to be bound to one kind of sound.
RASCOE: You know, it's no secret that you recently, you know, went through a very public divorce, and divorce is really hard. I recently got divorced, so I know it's a hard thing. So how are you doing?
JONAS: I'm doing great. You know, I have two beautiful children that I - I mean, being a girl dad is, like, my pride and joy. Coparenting is going great. You know, I have so much love for my ex-partner, and she's an amazing mom. You know, I think we stay focused on what's best for the children, and that's what it comes down to. So I think, you know, we kind of try to put the blinders on of all the [expletive] that might be out there in the world, and we focus on just being able to be the best parents to these kiddos. And my little ones - they keep me moving. You know, I think I am strong because of them, and whatever comes my way in life, I know that I can let it fall off my back. I know it's - my core, I do what I do for them, because if I see that smile, I'm - everything's reset.
RASCOE: Did this album help you process some of those feelings with those low points and, I mean, with breakups in general and just kind of - because a lot of it is, like, you're figuring out what your life's going to be. It's not what you expected. So it's like, who am I now, and how do I move forward? Did this album - or are there songs on this album that are you processing that?
JONAS: Absolutely. I think a big portion of this album - I was very inspired by somebody I got to work with Feist. She was talking about how she writes, a lot of times, for where she wants to be or who she wants to be. I found it very inspiring, and I always kind of wrote from a place of being where I'm stuck. And so there's a lot of lyrics that I wrote that were inspired by being in a really difficult place and knowing, you know what? I'll get out of it. This is where I want to be. When I perform this song, who do I want to be? - and speaking to some of my truths.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEY BEAUTIFUL")
JOE JONAS AND LOUANE: (Singing) Hey beautiful, look at how I look at you. Now that you're mine, what more could I need? What more could I need?
RASCOE: Is there a song that you think personifies that? I think about "Hey Beautiful." Like, is that a song personifying, like, where you would like to be?
JONAS: Yeah, "Hey Beautiful" is a song I wrote for my daughters. If I'm no longer on this - or when, I guess, something we all will have in common - no longer on this Earth, what is that like to me? And when I'm having questions about God and heaven and hell and all these things - like, where do we go after this life? Like, the neverending question of what happens - with little ones, it's like, well, I want to be around for them forever, if I can, if it's up - selfishly. But if I'm not, maybe I'm in the trees, maybe I'm in this song.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEY BEAUTIFUL")
JONAS AND LOUANE: (Singing) Hey beautiful, all I do for you. Give you my life and my heart on a string. Hey beautiful...
RASCOE: Well, you started out very young with your brothers, you know, obviously, the Jonas Brothers.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "6 MINUTES")
JONAS BROTHERS: (Singing) One minute and the earth begins to shake. Two minutes and my heart begins to break. Another minute and she makes me feel brand new. That's just three...
RASCOE: When did you start recognizing your own identity and your potential as a solo artist?
JONAS: For a long time, I did stuff with the guys, my brothers, and that was such a satisfying, rewarding feeling and also kind of comfortable. But when the band broke up for a while, there was a lot of questions about who was I going to be. And going and starting something on my own - it just kind of fell together perfectly.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOE JONAS SONG, "MY OWN BEST FRIEND")
RASCOE: Wow. Talking to you, it sounds like the crux of love and part of what you've learned is that in order to practice love for others, you first have to be there for yourself. That's what is coming through in this conversation with you.
JONAS: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think the real lesson for me the last couple years is, like, being able to just be OK with being alone but not lonely and having that healthy relationship with yourself, yes. Show up for you so you can show up for others. Exactly.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY OWN BEST FRIEND")
JONAS: (Singing) Ghost in the mirror, tell me a lie. If I'm supposed to be here, why do I cry? And I'll take what's left and build a bridge again. Oh, and I'll take the steps to be my own best friend, my own best friend. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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