Singer/songwriter John K has released his emotionally charged new single, “something worth working on” today. Arriving alongside a music video, the new track examines a romance at a crucial crossroads. Inspired by text messages with his wife, John’s powerful vocals soar over sparse orchestration in lines like, “But all the nights we spent losing our minds together don’t mean that it’s wrong, it means we’ve got something worth working on.” Listen to it now below.
Of the song, he commented, “I was heading to a writing camp, and I was leaving my wife and newborn son for the first time. We got into an argument before I left which continued via text, but before I landed, she threw me a lifeline and waved the white flag—even though I probably should’ve been the one to. Noticing her grace in that moment, I told her I loved her and said, ‘We have something worth working on’. I told the story to my co-writers. In no time, we fully explored what ‘something worth working on’ meant. So often we are told that fighting is a sign of an unhealthy relationship—and though sometimes that’s true—I really believe that sometimes the fight is what makes the relationship real.”
In the video directed by regular collaborator Erik Rojas [Jessie J, Dillon Francis], he sings directly to the camera against a black backdrop. A mirror separates him from his beau between vignettes of a sledgehammer smashing an hourglass and breaking a cinder block in one swing.
Regarding the visual, he adds, “I was pretty firm on the concept I believed in: a performance-based video driven by the idea of a wall between a couple that needs to be broken down. The most frustrating place in any relationship is the place where you can’t get through to the other person no matter what you do. It’s by far the most cinematic and dynamic video I’ve done to date, which fits perfectly with how deeply connected I feel to the concept of this song. I’m looking forward to hearing the many stories of listeners who have worked through similar pain and found their own breakthrough.”
“something worth working on” arrives on the heels of the recently released single “Guitars and Drugs” and winter 2022 fan-favorite “A LOT.” It all sets the stage for his anxiously awaited next full-length album—coming this year.