Jessie Baylin Says Writing New Album 'Jersey Girl' Helped Her Through a 'Major Loss of Identity'

Mar. 15, 2025

Singer-songwriterJessie Baylinhas had the same phone number since she was 14.

It was there that she was raised in a restaurant family in Gillette, busing tables as early as 12, and listening as her mom and dad played her artists like Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Barbra Streisand and Billie Holiday.

Baylin, 38, may have left home when she was younger, but her formative years in the Garden State have stuck with her and informed much of her strength, so much so that she’s named her new albumJersey Girl(out now).

“It’s actually a title I’ve run from my entire life, and yet here I am,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s a full-circle moment.”

The 11 tracks onJersey Girl, Baylin’s first full-length release in four years, are breezy, retro daydreams — and they almost never came to be.

After the death of her longtime friend and producer Richard Swift in July 2018, Baylin struggled with her musical direction. (“He just captured me in a way that no one had before,” she says. “I felt like I didn’t know how to move forward once he passed away.") Internal strife over her own loss of identity didn’t help, and, for a time, she thought she may not have any more albums left in her.

“I was kind of in a frozen period after having two kids and feeling a major loss of identity. I was feeling like a hologram version of myself,” she says. “And I just thought, ‘Gosh, I’ve got to figure out what’s going on with me. And maybe if I can figure it out on paper through words, I can sort of write myself back into my life, in a way.'”

So write she did. In Swift’s absence, Baylin leaned on producers Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk to produce her music, making it a point to craft a sound different to the musical magic she and Swift had created. This time around, she turned to “classic” pop records like Carole King, the Bee Gees, Todd Rundgren and Burt Bacharach.

The results were beyond her wildest dreams, and Baylin saysJersey Girlis “for sure” her most honest record yet. Even so, she admits that being so vulnerable in the public eye doesn’t come without fear. Work onJersey Girlbegan in February 2020, and when the pandemic reared its ugly head not long after, Baylin wondered if perhaps it was a sign.

“I was like, ‘Maybe this just isn’t meant to be. Maybe these parts are not supposed to be shown. Maybe the dream has to die now,'” she recalls. “But [my crew] wouldn’t let me stop, and I have so much gratitude. They knew me better than myself to help me push, drag it over the finish line, whatever it may be. I’m thrilled with how it turned out. It just feels like it was essential to my future as a person and an artist to finish this.”

“It was amazing to watch her go from ‘Mommy of the Year’ mode and ease back into her artistic world,” he says. “It was really special to see the raw range of emotion throughout the whole process… from doubt to, ‘Wow, I’ve still got it.’ I love being able to be a supportive husband who also happens to be her biggest fan.”

The pair’s love story appears to have provided at least some of Baylin’s inspiration for the record; songs like “Catch Fire” and “Cloud Nine” are deeply romantic odes to a significant other.

Married since 2009, the year after Baylin released her debut albumFiresight, the musicians first met backstage at Bonnaroo in a decidedly unromantic fashion: in front of a porta potty.

“I was eating this strawberry shortcake ice cream bar. And it’s not in my nature to be like, ‘Would you like a bite of my ice cream bar?’ But I felt so awkward that I offered him a bite,” she recalls. “And knowing him and that he’s a slight germaphobe, the fact that he took a bite of my strawberry shortcake is weird, but we’ve been together ever since.”

She adds: “I saw them play at the Wiltern [before we met] and leaned into my best friend and said, ‘I think I believe in rock and roll again.’ They were electric, and I still think they’re electric. Like any long-term relationship — we’re together 16 years — it is full of many colors, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

With two working musicians steering the ship, Baylin says that mastering the art of the balancing act is “a dance that we’re still figuring out in real time.”

Baylin knows that in sharingJersey Girlwith the world, she’s sharing a piece of herself. But it’s a leap she’s ready for.

“I’m nervous about sharing it, but I’m thrilled to share it and share my truth,” she says. “I haven’t had a response like this maybe ever from a release, so it feels exciting and it feels like fans are excited and already feel connected to the stories I’ve shared. It’s a record you can cook to, put on in the background at your home while you’re having a party and connecting with your friends; but if you want to dig deep, it’s all there.”

Jersey Girlis out now.

source: people.com