Jasmine Crowe

The best pop music helps us dig deeper within ourselves to connect with the highs and lows of life, and that's exactly what Jasmine Crowe's here to help you do. The accomplished singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist—a true quadruple threat—released her impactful and emotional debut album Symptoms last year, and it's only the beginning of her journey with a new single and more new music on the way.

Born and raised in Hawaii, the Los Angeles-based Crowe was practically brought into the world with music in her life: she started playing violin at the young age of three years old, and her father was a concert pianist alongside his career as an astronomer. "My parents were very musical—they met performing theater together," she explains. "Music was a huge part of our family and my upbringing."

After teaching herself how to sing while listening to Broadway musical recordings, Crowe eventually got accustomed to performing locally and accrued the confidence and motivation to try her hand at songwriting and music production, with formative influences that included Jewel and Alanis Morrissette. "They had strong, empowering lyrics," she states. "Jewel had this beautiful voice—all she had to do is grab a guitar and tell her stories. That was mesmerizing to me. Alanis was all about raw, unapologetic emotion and power, and her lyrics were very dynamic while still retaining introspection."

In 2018, Crowe won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for her song "Breaking Things," which was co-written and co-produced with her partner and first songwriting collaborator Josh Anderson; a year later, she released her debut album Symptoms, the result of two and a half years of work with Anderson in Los Angeles on songs she'd originally written in her bedroom. "It was my first chapter as a writer, producer, and artist," she states while discussing the album's origins. "It was such a journey to have people around me and a team who could help guide me in this city."

A deeply felt and expressive pop album, Symptoms was inspired by Lady Gaga's own approach to production and songwriting: "She's a powerhouse performer. A lot of my production is inspired by her, along with songwriters like Sia and Taylor Swift—strong women that are powerful, dynamic, and cathartic above all else."

Symptoms' title track—as well as the album as a whole—draws from an abusive experience that took place before moving to the West Coast. "After I went through that experience, my body went into shock and I started experiencing panic attacks and anxiety," she recalls. "It was about telling myself that everything was going to be okay—and a musical diary that revealed the ways I was coping with what I'd been through."

The transformative “Chess Game,” co-written by Kailey Shaffer, zeroes in on the struggles that young women in the music industry often face, as well as how to transcend and evolve amidst such struggles. As young women in our industry, we felt like we were tired of playing everyone else’s games,” she explains. “We were inspired to write something uplifting—an infectiously driven and empowering anthem in the face of adversity. The symbolism of the lyrics represents transformation, realizing your inner strength and having the courage to take back and own your true power.” The song was an anthem and debuted in the Billboard Dance Charts.

"Each song is a different piece of a puzzle—a symptom of who I am," Crowe continues. "I took my traumatic experiences and turned them into these fun pop songs to help me get through what I've experienced." The latest single from Symptoms, "Sky Is Falling," is particularly close to Crowe's heart; the epic, wide-open ballad finds her drawing from the pain and perseverance of her father's passing. "It's my most personal song—it encompasses all the things at the core of what I've gone through," she explains. I never had the chance to get any closure with him about what had happened to me, and I never got to say goodbye. All my anxiety turned into depression when he died. Because he studied the stars, the title itself is a double meaning. My world was crashing down around me, but I also wanted to make sure the song was uplifting and hopeful."

The accompanying music video for the single is next up, and in Crowe's words, the space-themed clip focuses on "Finding a connection with that feeling after you experience loss—with that person who may not even be there in the physical form anymore." What's next? More new music, starting with a duet with frequent collaborator Nick Mair, "Can't Find Love"—as well as continuing to live through the highs and lows of existing, and helping her listeners do the same. "A lot of things are hard to talk about that we go through, but we can all laugh and cry about it," she states. "It's about letting yourself feel those emotions and coming out stronger from it—feeling more self-assured about who you are."