Formerly known simply as the Jacket, the duo, who joined forces a little over a year ago, currently find themselves working their way back to the band's core with an upcoming album titled
“I kind of got all this attention like out of nowhere in the beginning, and I felt like even back then, maybe this is not so good, because I know that a lot of the time when you get attention so fast, it fades just as fast as well — especially when you haven’t put in the work," Harlowe says. "So I kind of changed the name so that I wouldn’t feel cornered, basically to allow myself mentally to not feel so pressured to explore different spaces like we did on the last Thousand Lies EP.”
The duo has been working on the album while on opposite ends of the nation, with Harlowe in L.A. and Kristof in Miami. “For this album, I really wanted to go back to the core of where it started,” Harlowe says. The distance hasn't exactly been easy, but thanks to modern technology, the two have found ways to make it work.
“We do bounce a lot of ideas back and forth," says Kristof. "That’s the beauty of doing this digitally. It’s actually kind of fun being able to be in two places at the same time."
Harlowe returns to L.A., where he was born and raised, every summer. He typically focuses on recording new music more than anything. While he says the upcoming album is a communication between both cities, both literally and figuratively,
“It’s sort of like a conceptual album about going to vacation in Miami and kind of getting stuck there. Miami is one of the only cities I’ve seen that kind of sucks you in while most cities kick you out if you’re not on top of your shit,” Harlowe says.
“It’s kind of like a new version of Scarface, conceptually, where instead of someone from Cuba, it’s a tourist that goes to Miami and gets sucked in. It’s definitely a story and different from the last album. It’s built for the dance floor. Minus one or two songs, it’s an album that’s built for the people.”
In anticipation of the forthcoming release, the duo has released the single “Everything Cooly,” a track Harlowe says brought Jean Jacket back to its roots.
“I just wanted to come from an honest place with things that I have dealt with over the past year," Harlowe says.
“If you’re not ready to leave a bad situation, you’re not going to leave no matter how much help you have or how
The new single pays homage to Sky Ferreira’s “Everything Is Embarrassing” by sampling its drum loop. It also features Christian Wunderlich, who's accompanied Mayer Hawthorne on guitar and who will be joining the duo for their set at the third-annual III Points festival.
“We’re on a new level where we’re riding a high right now, as far as production and opportunities," Harlowe says. "We definitely went through a little bit of the low as far as what we were doing, but we’re back, and we feel like we’re getting a lot accomplished, and we’re working hard together from coast to coast. It’s a new world. Separation isn’t an excuse for us to not be doing shit."