Jessie Reyez has released a new song every Friday for the past four weeks. She has also discussed stepping away from music, at least temporarily.
“I’m just tired,” the Toronto singer told Angie Martinez when asked about retirement during a June 19 interview on Angie Martinez IRL. Earlier in the conversation, Reyez acknowledged that “it might be retirement,” although she could “miss it in two months” and return. She didn’t know how much time she needed. She knew she needed some.
Reyez told Martinez that in nine years, she’d never voluntarily taken more than seven days off. Longer breaks came when illness forced her to stop. She described missing home while touring and wanting time with her family, her dog and a stack of books. “I’m gonna get a burner phone,” she said, imagining time without Instagram, TikTok or email.
She’d tried setting limits on her next tour. Reyez told her team to book a maximum of ten shows before she stepped away. The itinerary announced in August has 13, including Los Angeles’ Kia Forum and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. It opens November 3 in Seattle and ends November 24 at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Her release schedule has been just as busy.
“FOR SIXXX IN THE MORNIN,” featuring Samara Cyn, arrived October 9, followed by “MADE 4 THIS” on October 16, “SOVEREIGN LAND” on October 23 and “SOFTER” on October 30. The four singles lead into A LITTLE VENGEANCE (is more human than no vengeance at all), an expanded edition of her June album due November 6.
The deluxe adds eight tracks, including “GO 2 WAR” and “I JUST WANT TO PET MY DOG.” The latter is an apt coincidence given how often Reyez mentioned wanting ordinary time at home during her conversation with Martinez. Whether the song addresses that feeling remains to be heard.
Reyez also has a substantial career outside her own recordings. She’s written for other artists, including Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa on “One Kiss.” Northern Dial explored those less-visible credits in an earlier feature, Jessie Reyez’s Second Catalogue. Songwriting gives her another creative outlet, whatever she decides about touring and releasing music under her own name.
Late in the Martinez conversation, Reyez spoke about the family time she’d lost. Her parents had sometimes travelled with her, but her nieces, nephews and cousins couldn’t all join a tour. She recognized the privilege of making a living from music and still felt the cost of being away.
“Everything has a cost,” she said.
Reyez hasn’t announced her retirement, and the deluxe album hasn’t been billed as a farewell. What is clear is her desire to stop working at this pace. For now, she has a tour to play, new music arriving on November 6 and no firm answer about what comes afterward.
