I first met Jean Saint Lazarus at a songwriting camp in Nashville earlier this summer - an experimental haven where complete strangers with a shared obsession for sound, story, and structure collide in small studio rooms to create something meaningful and marketable, usually in just a few hours.
These camps are unpredictable and raw: one moment you’re blasting the AC and jumping around with jingle bells to conjure the spirit of Christmas past - because, of course, holiday pitching season is in June. Next, you’re dredging your soul to write an anthem for resilience that leaves the room in tears. It was in the latter setting that I met Jean.
Let me be clear - although she has no trouble getting deep, Jean Saint Lazarus is not a heavy artist. Not in the way that might imply brooding or self-seriousness. What struck me instead was her presence - light, warm, and completely comfortable with embracing her emotions in the creative process. She also has a kind of retro spirit that doesn’t feel styled or borrowed. It feels lived-in.
There’s a timeless quality to her - like she could’ve been jamming with Joni Mitchell in Laurel Canyon or trading harmonies with Paul McCartney at Abbey Road.
Her sound pays homage to the ‘60s and ‘70s, but she's not just channeling the past - she's reinterpreting it through a modern, curious lens. So when I say she reminds me of a rock or folk legend of a past time, what I really mean is she seems to share this spirit. That ability to tap into “the artist state”.
When we reconnected recently, our conversation turned to production - specifically, the conscious choice to leave intentional imperfections in her music: analog warmth, vocal fry, and the occasional crack in the voice.
“I have to consciously choose to let my voice crack, or to let there be that rasp, or to let something be out of time.”
But Jean’s perspective extends beyond production - it’s a philosophy that speaks to her broader view of the industry and the pressure artists face to be pristine, perfect, and packaged.
“Everything now is so quantized, so auto-tuned... It’s clean, but it’s not honest.”
In a world obsessed with polish, she sees power in letting go.
“It’s so easy now to make everything perfect. But when something’s too perfect, it loses the feeling - it loses the soul of it.”
Her solution?
“We need to let more chaos into our music. That’s where the magic happens.”
Jean’s live performances have often been compared to Lady Gaga, and the comparison makes sense: big vocals, dramatic shifts, undeniable charisma - not to mention a surplus of innovative ideas and raw talent! But ask her, and she’ll point to different roots.
“People compare me to Gaga all the time - and I get it. She’s theatrical, she’s a performer. But I grew up on artists like Paul McCartney and Stevie Nicks. That’s where my soul lives.”
Her vocal tone carries the mystique of Stevie, the storytelling of McCartney, and a perspective that’s completely her own. What I admired most about Jean in our short chat was how she really had explored her heroes' styles of writing deeply. She didn’t just have superficial comments about one element of their writing process in particular, but examined the whole recipe to call out elements she admired.
There’s something intentional about every sound Jean uses - from chords to textures to vocal delivery. But she’s not stuck in her habits.
“We all have this toolkit, right? Like, there are certain chords we go to, tones we’re drawn to - that’s what makes us us.”
“But if you’re not curious, you stop evolving. And then you’re just repeating yourself.”
That curiosity shows - in her ever-evolving sound, her refusal to be boxed into a single genre, and even in the way she markets her music with what she calls “chaotic consistency.”
Jean’s latest single I Swear We Saw a UFO (June 2025) captures something most artists struggle to put into words: the out-of-this-world feeling of instant connection.
“It’s about that rare connection you share with someone that’s instant, intense, overwhelming. Like... out of this world.”
But the hook isn’t just the magic - it’s the doubt that follows.
“It’s called I Swear We Saw a UFO because that’s what it feels like. Like you know you saw something real, but no one else understands what you saw. You only start to doubt yourself when the only other witness leaves you to believe you imagined it.”
The track blends emotional storytelling with atmospheric production - a signature Saint Lazarus move.
Fans can check out her brand-new track “Can’t blame a hound” from the 31st of July!
Jean Saint Lazarus is a name you’ll want to remember - not just for her voice, but for the soul she brings into every note.
Explore the depth of Jean Saint Lazarus’s storytelling - read her lyrics on Musixmatch.
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