Singer-songwriter Jonathan Roy spent the better part of his twenties traveling and three of those years were in his van along California’s Pacific Coast Highway, where he wrote many songs.
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Roy has seen an incline of success with his 2019 single “Keeping Me Alive” which is bursting with pop flair and Roy’s tone that he explains is all his own. His most recent adventure was revamping Damien Rice’s “Delicate” which he crafted an intimate and full-sounding acoustic rendition of.
“I love it, we had a good time doing it,” Roy told American Songwriter. “My manager Paul he’s a big fan of Money Heist, and he was watching the show and called me up and asked if I knew this song ‘Delicate,’ and said it was making him tear up and suggested I should cover it. I hadn’t heard it in many years but I always thought it was beautiful. I’ve always been a Damien Rice fan. So, we decided to do it and we put a version together with my guys and it turned out beautiful.”
Roy’s version of “Delicate” is uniquely different in it adds volume and intensity to the song, with a full spectrum of warm and bright-toned acoustics that lay under Roy’s passionate and sincere vocals.
“Every time I grab a cover, I try to make it my own,” he said. “I’m used to molding songs and lyrics to together, so I wanted to keep what was great but add my voice, my tone, but I didn’t change too much, it’s just so well written.”
Shortly prior to “Delicate” Roy also released some more new music, a single titled “Lights of Los Angeles,” the first look at what could be coming up on some additional singles, all of which can be expected to be crafted from a co-write, a writing approach Roy has always been drawn to.
“I used to write alone all the time and it’s great but at the same time co-writing is a fun way to throw ideas around,” Roy explained about his songwriting preferences. “I love writing with people so I set up shop at a cottage out in Quebec and I just started writing with my drummer Mark. And We were tempted to throw the song away and we couldn’t get a melody or story going and all of the sudden it just happened at 3 am when we were ready to throw in the towel. The hook just came and we finished it that morning.”
With the music industry and the way listeners consume music changing rapidly and constantly, Roy said he just wants to release great songs, and he’s not really holding himself to any obligations. His main priority for his new material will be to draw on his acoustic sensibilities, an idea taken from the success of “Keeping Me Alive” which he recorded two versions for; one radio and one acoustic.
“’Keeping Me Alive’ radio version is awesome but there is something special to me about having a live version or one take, just a drum, piano and people singing in the background,” Roy said. “If you can do that as an artist, I think it’s amazing and it shows the beauty of the song. I think going forward we might do two versions of the songs, like with ‘Keeping me Alive’ with its radio and acoustic versions. We did the same thing with ‘Lights of Los Angeles’ too and the acoustic version is rawer and just closer to who I am.”
With the focus on Roy’s acoustic brand and leaning on putting out songs with alternate, stripped-down versions, he is also planning to release some more music videos in the near future, one of which will be for “Lights of Los Angeles” and in the meantime, Roy is back home in Canada, enjoying some quality time with his family on his newly acquired property where he has a small farm with his wife.
Watch his outstanding cover and performance of Damien Rice’s “Delicate” here and be sure to check out his other songs like “Lights of Los Angeles” and “Keeping Me Alive” on Spotify.
