It’s been 17 years since Jessica Simpson was actively making music (with the exception of 2010’s Happy Christmas). She’s just returned with her new single “Use My Heart Against Me” – the first off her upcoming EP Nashville Canyon, Pt. 1 which drops March 21. The song is a blend of country with that good ol’ bluesy rock n roll, not the glittery pop that we are used to from Jessica, but that’s the point – Jessica’s in a new era of her life where following trends and being on the top of the charts just is not the priority. 

 

This time around it’s about artistic freedom. Both her latest spread in The Cut with her sister Ashlee and the music itself reflects that. In the age of streaming post-Cowboy Carter where genre is a thing of the past, Jessica’s comeback feels not just timely but inevitable. Free from the constraints of a label (or a man), Jessica is finally creating some of her most honest music yet, with no industry gatekeepers dictating her artistry.

 

While it may have been a long time since Jessica has dipped her toes into the music business, she has stayed in the headlines for multiple reasons over the years, but most notably for her memoir Open Book, considered by many to be one of the juiciest celebrity memoirs period. The book hit #1 on the New York Times best-seller list back in 2020 and immediately revived interest in her personal and professional life. Jessica herself was surprised by the success of the memoir, telling Ashlee in The Cut, “I thought it’d come in at No. 15 or something. When I heard it was No. 1, I was like, What? People care that much? I was like, Wow, bravery pays off. And it gives you freedom.” 

Not only did the success of Open Book give Jessica confidence in her voice, but it proved that she still had an audience, making it the perfect gateway for her return to the music scene. Before the memoir, Jessica was noticeably absent from the public eye, aside from an ad here and there for her Jessica Simpson Collection. A lot of this was a conscious choice on her part after years of relentless abuse from the media, a tale we know all too well for the pop girls of Jess’s heyday. Once Jessica opened up in her memoir about everything from alcoholism, to the dirty laundry of her ex-husband and boyfriends, she took back control. 

 

Jessica’s new music was created in Nashville, and is unmistakably country. Think of the country-rock that we know from Shania Twain, but with a bluesy twang to it. We may know Jess for her pop tunes, but this is not the first time she has stepped into the country world, as her last official studio album that she released was the country record Do You Know (which went double platinum in my then 13-year-old bedroom). The difference between Jessica doing country music then versus today is actually quite simple: genre boundaries are coming down. Beyoncé and Doechii are prime examples of this, finding success across all different genres. Music is more about innovation today than it ever was, and the quickest way to bore your audience is to stay boxed into one specific sound, which is like night and day compared to how it worked back in 1999 when Jessica first came out. 

Back in 2008, the focus was on everything but the music. She talked about her reservations making that record and how when she asked her best friend Cacee Cobb to A&R the project, she followed up the request with, “I’m pretty sure it’s not gonna go well, so let’s just do it, at least I’ll have my best friend” (Open Book, page 290.) The album was met with mixed reviews and all but disappeared from the charts, selling just under 200,000 copies since its release. Jess was still signed to a major label and was promoting music the same way she always had, with radio and chart positions at the forefront. Now, she gets to make the music for the joy of it, telling The Cut:

“Making this record wasn’t about having a hit. It was just about having a vibe. There’s really not a lot of that in L.A. right now. It’s formulaic. I wanted to break that mold for myself personally. I don’t care if anything’s a hit. I’m not with a record label. I don’t expect it to even be on the radio.”

 

At this point in Jessica’s career, success isn’t measured by numbers or sales. It’s measured by the amount of freedom one has with their art, which is something Jessica is only experiencing with music for the first time now.

 

 

 

Whether country is your thing or not, the song is catchy and her vocals are in prime shape. Jessica has been victim to the cutthroat opinions on TikTok for her vocals on past performances, so the vocal delivery on this song ought to shut the negativity up real quick. Lia Russo of the popular fan podcast The Ashlee and Jessicast (with close to 10,000 IG followers), has been helping spread the word and excitement amongst fans on her socials. On one of her recent posts about the song, a fan wrote “It has to be the first of her songs that has made it, by my own addition, into my Spotify rotation”. That for me has to be the most exciting part of this new era for Jessica – the fact that even after all these years in music, she can still get exposed to new fans and listeners, and it’s not just the new fans that are digging the sound.

 

The upcoming EP comes on the heels of Jessica announcing her separation from husband of 10 years, Eric Johnson. Nothing heals a broken heart like a bluesy rockabilly jam session, right cowgirls? While “Use My Heart Against Me” sings about returning to a former flame just for one sexy night, the other song titles on the project allude to some very personal stories that could be a response to the breakup (“Leave” and “Blame Me” sparked my interest for this reason). 

This isn’t Jessica trying to be the star of Y2K-past, relying on nostalgia and iconic moments, but rather an accurate depiction of the Jessica Simpson of today: a 44-year-old badass artist-entrepreneur who no longer has to listen to men in suits, or a man at home, telling her what to do with her career and life. 

Photo credits: Gillian Laub/ The Cut

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