When Jake & Shelby first burst onto the scene, the duo instantly brightened the pop landscape with a truly revelatory breath of fresh air. As shown on high-streaming singles like “Girl I’ll Be Tomorrow” and “You and Me,” Jake & Shelby possess a rare power to command the audience with the simplest of arrangements, frequently casting an indelible spell with their heart-melting harmonies and nuanced guitar work. 

As kids growing up in Hendersonville, a suburb just outside of Nashville, TN, the two first began honing their singular musicality by taking weekly lessons at Cedarstone School of Music where, within a couple of years, Lawson and Hiam linked up writing songs together and posting acoustic covers on social media. Before long, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalists had amassed an adoring fanbase and earned the admiration of musical luminaries and pop-culture icons–Michael Bublé joined Jake & Shelby in summer 2022 for an update of their viral “Sway” cover and a year later, Kim Kardashian asked the duo to cover Patti LaBelle’s “If Only You Knew” as a birthday surprise for her sister Khloé. 

Jake & Shelby eventually landed a deal with EMPIRE through a joint venture with Cedarstone Entertainment and kept their focus on building up their catalog of original songs, releasing their debut EP Just Us in January 2024, a perfect introduction to their finespun form of organic pop. When it came time to create their next batch of songs (including a debut album due out in 2025), the duo chose to broaden their sonic palette while doubling down on the soul-baring quality of their lyrics, and worked with producers like Josh Ronen (Kelly Clarkson, Erin Kinsey) and Micah Tawlks (COIN, The Brook & the Bluff). 

The first glimpse into Jake & Shelby’s new era, a summer 2024 single called “Control” helped set the tone for that heightened emotional truth and more expansive sonic direction. With its delicate backdrop of shadowy beats and somber piano work, the sublimely unhurried track brings Hiam’s raw yet exquisitely controlled vocals to an unfettered outpouring of longing and self-doubt. The follow-up to “Control,” “Chasing Ghosts” presents a hypnotic meditation on memory and self-sabotage, ultimately building to a brooding grandeur at its wildly frenetic bridge.