After a music career spanning over two decades, Ian Janes is still finding new ways to craft a sound of his own.
The next step in this evolution is Janes’ seventh studio album, WeakNights, where he blends his love of soul-pop with a vivid array of instrumentation—’80s style synths, Motown basslines, and even a song where two drum kits are interwoven to create a beat unlike any other.
By the end of the record, it may be hard to place where it belongs in our genre-dominant musical canon, but in a way, that’s what Janes is going for.
“I kind of feel like sometimes my stuff has all of the groove and the elements of soul, R&B, and jazz and all that stuff, but maybe leans a little bit harder on this storytelling of country and singer-songwriter a little bit,” said Janes about his music.
While Janes said he isn’t looking to necessarily break any one genre’s boundaries, he readily admits his sound is derived from that of a multitude of genres while still keeping a soul-pop groove.
“I’ve always wanted to make stuff that felt fun,” he said. “Balanced, feeling fun and celebratory, and being a good time without being too vague, bitter, or lacking in content.”
By that standard, WeakNights achieves this and more. Each track brings its own blend of styles, and each end result feels completely original.
The title track is just one example, with popping ’80s synths accompanying Janes’ modern R&B delivery building into a multi-layered, jazzy instrumentation—saxophone included—with background singers chanting the chorus.
It’s groovy enough to dance to, its instrumentation is intricate, and its lyrics describe a slow but steady downward spiral after heartbreak.
The music video is also a sight to behold, as Janes superimposes his sad and confused face over celebrity footage from the 1970s. Some shots show Janes imposed over an Oscar winner.
"The idea [of] my superimposed face at the Oscars and winning, which is normally a really joyous thing, but like, winning for being the most miserable. It seemed like a really fun thing to manipulate."
On top of multi-genre-inspired instrumentation and a hilarious music video are his aforementioned lyrics. Take “The Problem”, where Janes delivers a stripped-back soundscape as he takes a jab at people who fail to recognize their faults.
“That song specifically is sort of accusatory towards someone who constantly finds themselves in unfavourable situations, and always [says] that it’s someone else’s fault,” said Janes. “The narrator is pointing out to them that they’re the only common denominator.”
Yet, the song isn’t just poking fun at those lacking self-awareness. As Janes himself realized, it can also be read as a reflection of the speaker.
“After I wrote the song, I thought about it a lot and was like, you know, interestingly, that song also could be sung in a mirror,” said Janes. “You can be singing that to yourself, like, hey man, how can I keep having the same result? Well, you’re the only common denominator in your life, so the only person that can really change your outcomes, truly, is you.”
The rest of the tracklist is just as varied. “Share” sees Janes teaming up with songwriter Jamie Hartman, who has co-written songs with the Backstreet Boys and Rag’n’Bone Man, with David Cook—Taylor Swift’s musical director and pianist—on keys. The song is powered by two live drum kits working alongside each other, as well as a Motown-style bassline with a colourful collage of soulful instrumentation.
The last track, “Waiting for Never”, features what might be perhaps Janes’ most interesting inclusion—a sample from his song “Closer” off of his 1998 debut album, Occasional Crush.
“I’ve done a bit of work with Classified lately, and I had talked to him about both sampling some of my older stuff, and he kind of got me started down that road, which was really interesting for me,” said Janes.
For him, it’s proof that what he creates is definitively his own—and further dodges any labels that try to pinpoint a definition for his music.
“It was intentional to have a common thread from the first song on my first record to the last song on my latest record,” he explains. “In a little bit of a way shows that the evolution of my style has happened, and there have been twists and turns along the way.
“It’s sort of like almost a little bit of a point of pride when people don’t know what to call what I’m doing.”
Janes’ new album WeakNights is available on streaming platforms.
