Julian Lennon released a new EP, Because…, today (October 24), his first multiple-track collection since the 2022 studio album, Jude. The EP’s four songs date back to the late 1980s and ’90s, and were built around home demos Julian recorded that were cleaned up using modern AI technology, and enhanced with some newer musical and vocal parts.
Videos by American Songwriter
In recent weeks, the singer/songwriter debuted music videos for two of the songs, the title track and “I Hope.” Coinciding with the EP’s arrival, a new clip for a third tune, the soaring ballad “I Won’t Give Up,” has now premiered.
Lennon recently chatted with American Songwriter about the EP, and shared details about some of the new tunes, including “I Won’t Give Up.”
Interestingly, “I Won’t Give Up,” which Julian describes as a “rock ballad on crack,” features contributions from acclaimed producer Andrew Watt and Watt’s frequent studio collaborator Louis Bell.
More About “I Won’t Give Up”
Lennon explained that Watt and Bell’s involvement in the track came about five or more years ago when Andrew invited Julian to visit him in a Los Angeles studio.
Lennon noted, “I’d had the verses of ‘I Won’t Give Up’ for a good 20 years, and I’d had one or two ideas of where to take it, but I was never, ever satisfied.”
Julian said that when he went to see Watt, he’d only planned to say hi, but the producer immediately asked him if he had any music ideas.
“I said, ‘Well, one I haven’t finished for 20 years is this,’” Julian recalled. “And I started singing the verses to him, and he immediately came up with a few ideas. Louis was engineering/producing, and Andrew was just … throwing ideas at the wall. And, you know, at the end of an hour or so, we walked out of there with an idea.”
Lennon said that he wound up sitting on the track for another five years. He noted that the songs still lacked a good bridge, but his longtime collaborator, Justin Clayton, finally came up with one he liked.
“[T]hat just gave it enough of a shift that it wasn’t … a level, flat song, for me anyway,” Julian explained. “It had to go somewhere for a minute. And once he’d done that, I said, ‘Okay, this is now workable, and let’s clean it up. And I think it’ll be good as the end of our first little four-song EP.’”
In a social media post, Lennon noted that “I Won’t Give Up” is as song about “not giving up on Love.” Julian delivers an impressive vocal performance on the tune.
About “I Hope”
“I Hope” is another pop-rock ballad dealing with a relationship. Lennon explained in the aforementioned social media post the song “is about hoping your partner feels as in Love as you do, and that Love will prevail.”
The tune is somewhat reminiscent of the Beatles, not surprising coming from a son of John Lennon. Julian told American Songwriter, though, that he feels he was influenced at the time by Squeeze.
“[D]efinitely the chord changes, the melodies, it’s all a bit left of field,” he noted. “When we were working on ‘I Hope,’ I was just going, ‘How the hell did I come up with that?’ I have no idea how I came up with that, because the chords are all over the place, the melody’s all over the place, but it all works.”
More About the Because… EP
As previously reported, Because… is the first of a series of EPs Lennon is planning to release featuring songs he wrote and worked on over the years that never found a home on his previous albums. He estimated he has at least 30 tunes he hopes will eventually see the light of day.
The Because… EP is available now via digital formats and on vinyl.
Julian also has plans to release a music video soon for the fourth track from the EP, “Keep On Searching.” He describes that tune as being “a little fictional story, about a relationship where the partner decided to leave, and the thought that you’ll never find anyone as good, or that kind of Love again.”
Julian’s Other Upcoming Plans, Including a Memoir
Lennon told American Songwriter that he now plans to “disappear for a while” to focus on writing a memoir. He reported that he officially began work on the project in early September.
Without getting into specifics, Julian noted that the book won’t be a traditional autobiography.
“I’m not writing it the way you would normally approach writing a memoir,” he offered. “I don’t want to do the ‘I was born here. I did this. These are my parents.’ So, I’ve taken on a much more interesting story, which I can’t tell you … what the approach is, but not only is it trying to put a certain amount of information into this, but putting it in a way that’s never been done before.”
Lennon said he also has some exhibits lined up for his photography, and also will continue to focus on raising money for his charitable organization, The White Feather Foundation.
(Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/amfAR/Getty Images for amfAR)
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