We’ve seen many incarnations of JJ Peters over the years; the party boy, the rock star, the crooner….But today we get to behold a new version of one of Australia’s heavy music impresarios – the doting father. For his new single Have You Ever, Peters takes listeners on a soulful journey on the topic with the help of The Amity Affliction’s Ahren Stringer.
A tapestry of woozy, low-key soundscapes, ‘Have You Ever’ is instrumentally sparse, leaving plenty of open space for the deeply personal, dear diary-esque lyrics to stretch out and garner the focus they deserve.
By our count, this is the first time that JJ and Ahren have been on a track together since the release of the absolute fan favourite, ‘Stairway To Hell’ released in 2008 on Severed Ties…I bet that takes you back.
“This song was written in an airport Starbucks somewhere in Europe back in November off the back of a month long tour/bender,” JJ tells Blunt Magazine of ‘Have You Ever.’
“I was beyond scatter brained and broken; I felt awful about being in this state and all I could think about was getting back to my baby girl…I realised in a moment of clarity that’s the only reason I still live this bizarre lifestyle at this point, is for my kids and to support my family. It’s a strange dichotomy, but thats my reality. So, ‘Have You Ever’ is a very important song to me.”
Since embarking on his solo sojourn in earnest, JJ has shared with us all some of his more personal and thoughtful music to date. Earlier in the year, he shared the cabin-fever inspired ‘Four Wall’s, soon after he released ‘Beat The Case’, the proceeds of which were donated to both the protest bail funds in the U.S, as well as aiding to raise the age of legal responsibility in Australia.
All of these moves will culminate in the release of his solo EP, which has a street date of Friday, 24 June.
