Montell Fish is easily one of the more fascinating artists making faith-based music today, with the young singer-songwriter finding vulnerable, often beautiful ways of expressing the intersections between human relationships and connection to a higher power. On JAMIE, which follows 2019’s Bedroom Lofi, Fish turns his attention toward the idea of loss and healing, crafting layered, sometimes raw narratives that evoke universal experiences like heartbreak and longing—while still leaving room for alternate interpretations. “The whole album is about the process of grief,” Fish tells Apple Music. “There are several stages of grief, and the first one is denial and isolation. This whole project was rooted in those two states.” Fish recorded the entire project in his bedroom, a process that lends itself well to his stripped-down guitar work and his dynamic voice, which recalls Frank Ocean and Bon Iver. Here, Fish shares insights into several of JAMIE’s key tracks.
“Jamie”
“‘Jamie’ was like throwing you into the world [of the album], since the whole album is about the first process of grief. I felt those last words, ‘Jamie, the best thing that happened to me,’ represented that denial well.”
“Fall in Love with You.”
“I didn't expect that one to be as big as it was. I mean, with a lot of the tracks, I just made them in my bedroom—that one probably took 10 minutes to write, if that. It was something that came to my mind. But what I thought was really cool—because I was studying the art of contradiction and contrast—is the music of the track and even the hook sounds very lovely, like you're falling in love very slow, but the verse feels like it's a breakup. Most people, I don't think, really notice that, because they use it for couples’ videos and stuff like that. But it's actually a really sad song.”
“And i’d go a thousand miles”
“‘thousand miles’ is me finally messing around and trying a little guitar solo. The guitar has become my favorite instrument over the years. This track, as well as the whole album, has this stripped nature, which I always thought felt lonely and like the isolation part of the process of grief.”
“Destroy Myself Just for You”
“Throughout the whole writing of the album, I had this fear that I was going to die either as soon as I finished the album or at some point in the process. I don't know why. It was just an illogical fear. I don't have it as much anymore, but I just kept having that, so I put it in the music because I just wanted to get it out of me, get what was in my head out of me. But again, it has this very beautiful analogy of suffering for the sake of love, suffering and allowing yourself to be destroyed, which can be very unhealthy in the human way. But then when you look at God, it's like he suffered for us on the cross. Towards the outro of the track is the beginning of the birth of this character I’ve developed called Charlotte. He screams a lot and sings very passionately. You can hear his high falsettos towards the end.”
“I Can’t Love You This Much”
“‘I Can’t Love You This Much’ is me accepting that I can’t let go. The first words are ‘After all these years still I want you here.’ It doesn’t even feel like a song to me, just like I’m whining over the whole track. But that’s the best part to me.”