Jamie Drake Shares New Single 'New Girl'

On June 10 singer-songwriter Jamie Drake will release her new album New Girl via AntiFragile Music. Today she has shared the LP's title track. The Bossa Nova influenced "New Girl" depicts Jamie's gypsy-like childhood with a twinkle in her eye.

She shares, "this song holds a special place in my heart. I love all the lyrics because when I wrote it I was channeling my inner child's experience of moving a lot as a kid and always being the new girl at school (which was 9 times before the 5th grade). I love how each verse charts the loss of something: friends, my dad, my faith -- and how I'm always the new girl whether it's literally or figuratively speaking.

The positive side to this song is that with every new beginning, there is always a new life, which is one of the main themes of this album. As a kid it was always stressful having to start over again (I even changed my name in the 2nd grade to 'Elizabeth'). As an adult I realize that death and rebirth are potentially an everyday occurrence if you want it to be; offering a chance at something new."

Drake has previously shared "Beginnings" and "Easy Target," which Buzzbands LA called "a free-flowing, vocally warm pop song in the vein of '60s and '70s AM radio hitmakers." 48 Hills labeled it a "warm open hug of tune."

In 2020 Jamie found herself living in upper Ojai, California, on an airstream property. It was there she discovered Getz/Gilberto '76, the live album by Stan Getz and João Gilberto. "It was a pandemic so I bought a bike and listened to that album every day while riding around with my dog Moxie and a JBL speaker in the basket. I knew those songs had gotten into my marrow when I met and wrote "It's A New Life" with Rich Jacques.

It's the first song I've ever written that has a bossa feeling to it and I knew I would make my next album with him after that. The feeling of "It's A New Life" was the world I wanted to live in musically." In the fall of 2021 the two reconvened along with artist and multi-instrumentalist Austin Myles Grant to start working on New Girl. The trio was invited to record at a private residence set in the Santa Monica mountains, seeped in the purity and quiet of nature where they could fully unfurl and connect musically.

New Girl is also informed by Jamie's discovery of ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families) which she credits for changing her life. Through that work and a trip she made to North Carolina to be near her family during the pandemic, Jamie has found herself healing old wounds.

She shares, "Music's always felt like a mysterious, second language to me. A melody will fall down from the sky when I'm driving or in the shower, and I'll record a voice memo on my phone so I don't forget it. Lyrics don't come as easily to me but they're always biographical. It's difficult for me to have the desire to write a song if it's not personal."

One of LA's best-kept musical songwriting secrets for over a decade -- collaborating with the likes of Sondre Lerche, Jim James, Moby, Sarah and Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek), and Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco) - Drake moved to the front of the stage with the 2019 release of her debut album Everything's Fine (AntiFragile Music). The album featured the title track, "Wonder," and "Redwood Tree" and to date has surpassed over 15M streams on Spotify. Along the way Drake found critical acclaim from the likes of NPR Music, Talkhouse, Flood, and more.

Listen to the new single here: