This fall, I met virtually with the mononymous Jordana to chat about her new EP, Jordanaland, out November 7. What ensued was a giggle-filled conversation on therapy, sobriety, shitty dads, and her artistic process. From making lo-fi bedroom pop in her teens, to co-authoring fan favorite TV Girl record Summer’s Over at 21, to releasing back-to-back solo hits with Lively Premonition and Jordanaland, Jordana’s creative evolution by just 25 has been mesmerizing to watch. 2024’s Lively Premonition was a full-length album featuring whimsical storytelling, unique violin melodies, and some of Jordana’s most impressive vocal demonstrations yet. So, I was shocked when she managed to outdo one of my favorite 2024 releases with Jordanaland, her latest EP. Jordanaland takes a more serious and soul-bearing direction, while still maintaining Jordana’s optimistic pop sound and playfully witty lyricism. In the following conversation on her new EP, I tried my best to encapsulate Jordana’s charisma in writing, but her wit, humor, and charm truly shine in person. Soon after the EP’s release, you can catch Jordana in a city near you on The Jordanaland Tour in 2026!
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This interview was conducted by Dylan Simmons on September 25, 2025. This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Dylan Simmons: So Lively Premonition and Jordanaland [were] released only a year apart, and to me, both of them feel like very polished and evolved versions of your artistic persona. What feels different or connected about these two projects?
Jordana Nye: I think they’re both pretty confident in themselves. And that was my goal: to sound like I know what I’m doing, but even before fully processing stuff. Just try my best to really gauge the evolution of what my sound is. I still don’t know what my sound is, but I know that it’s definitely evolved, and it’s just more prominently myself.
Dylan: I feel like I do hear that confidence. I read that you took a little bit of a fictionalized approach to [writing Lively Premonition], and you wanted it to be a very happy and fun listen, and then Jordanaland does feel a little bit more serious, but also kind of more real for the same reason.
Jordana: It doesn’t take itself seriously the entire way, but yeah, the crashing out on the track is very real [laughs]. As much as I hate to admit that, because I’m kind of embarrassed to say that.
Dylan: How does that feel to be putting out something that is more vulnerable? Like, it’s not narrative or fictional; it’s kind of just like, “This is my life, and I’m putting all [of] myself out there.”
Jordana: I’ve been doing that since I’ve been writing music, like, since the first song I wrote, and it’s fucking crazy, honestly. It’s so weird. It’s so weird to do that because it feels like a journal entry, just like, out. I should probably start journaling. I’ve heard it’s very good for you [laughs]. But the cynic in me is like, what the fuck would I do that for when I could just make something productive of it? If I’m gonna write it down, it’s not gonna go anywhere, I might as well do something productive with it. I feel like I’m wasting my time.
Dylan: I feel like the process of songwriting is you still working through your emotions, so it still has the therapeutic benefits. I’m such a journaling truther, but also I’ve been trying to do more songwriting recently too, and I’m like, “Oh, wait, I’m kind of working this out as I’m writing it.”
Jordana: Do you have any journaling tips?
Dylan: Yeah, I’ll give you one from my therapist [laughs]. She said not to only write when you’re super sad or super angry, because then you kind of give yourself a negative association with journaling, subconsciously. So just write about a day that’s kind of average, or a day that’s really good. I think also, for me, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to do it every single day, because then I inevitably don’t do it every day, and then I like, never do it. So even just once a week or once a month, I try to aim for.
Jordana: What if you don’t have anything to say?
Dylan: Well, you don’t have to journal. I feel like I just always have things to say. There’s always so much going on. But I’m also like, 21, so I feel like that makes sense. I’m still figuring my shit out. But, I mean, you don’t have to make yourself journal if you don’t want to. But literally last night, I was texting my friend, and I was like, “Oh my god, I feel so many different emotions right now about work and school and everything.” And I’m like, “Maybe I should journal. Maybe this is a good time for me to remember to do that.”
Jordana: No, seriously, I feel like I’m losing my mind lately. Is anyone else feeling like that? I saw this TikTok [where] this girl was talking about how she needs to maybe just not be on social media anymore, because she just can’t. She’s paying too much attention to the numbers, and there’s just chaos everywhere. I was literally just spiraling about that the other day, and I just don’t want to be on it anymore.
Dylan: Yeah, that is such a contributing factor. I definitely feel like I’ve been going crazy, and one of my goals [this year] was just to get off of social media more. Because, like, why do I open this app that just makes me mad? That can’t be good for me.
Jordana: I know! I’m ragebaiting myself every day.
Dylan: Like, ragebait first thing in the morning.
Jordana: Why am I on my phone right when I wake up? What is this?
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Dylan: So I know that this EP is very personal, and it is a little bit more opening you up than Lively Premonition was. I mean, it’s called Jordanaland; [is] this the most “Jordana” you’ve felt on a record yet?
Jordana: I don’t know, honestly. I feel like there’s a big piece of me in every single [record], but it doesn’t fully represent me at all times.
Dylan: It’s not all-encompassing.
Jordana: Yeah.
Dylan: Especially because you one year isn’t going to be the same as you the next year, so no one project can fully [encapsulate you].
Jordana: Exactly, thank you. Finally someone gets it! [both laugh]
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Dylan: From this EP, what song was the most difficult for you to write?
Jordana: [in a sing-songy voice] The one about my family. The one about my familial relative [both laugh]. I don’t even think that he’s gonna see it, because I don’t think — as much as I hate to admit it — sometimes, people do not fulfill their familial roles that they are responsible to fill. But also, the good thing is that if you do talk shit publicly, they’re probably not gonna see it, because they don’t look at what you do!
Dylan: Pros and cons, I guess [both laugh].
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Dylan: What song on this project are you the most fond of or proud of?
Jordana: I think “Hard Habit To Break.” I did this EP with my friends in MICHELLE — Charlie and Julian. Charlie and I met each other in 2021, when I was living in New York. I went over to him and his partner’s apartment, and we started just doing sessions and making music and stuff. It was around the time where I quit drinking, where I had Charlie come over, and we wrote that song. We wrote the chorus to that song four years ago. And then, when we were trying to finish writing songs for this EP, he was like, “Hey, what do you think about that one song that we wrote, like, four years ago? What do you think about finishing it?” It’s crazy how different of a person I am now, but also how much I haven’t changed. It’s about sobriety. It’s kind of just listing out all of the flaws and cons of how it made me feel when I was “off the sauce” [laughs]. And I was like, “Damn. This one’s good. Yeah, we should finish it.” And it was really important to me that that went on the EP because of lore, the background of it, and just I think it says a lot about the journey as well. That’s the one I am most fond of, I think, because of the evolution of that song. We only wrote the chorus of it four years ago. And then we finished it this year.
Dylan: Did you end up changing the chorus much, or did you keep it relatively the same?
Jordana: No, we kept it the same! It was crazy, it was just the same one that was from four years ago.
Dylan: That’s so cool. This project does feel like a marker of your personal and creative growth. And that makes sense that this song is also just so personally important, and it’s a reminder of how far you’ve come, too.
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Dylan: Were there any inspirations you can point to for this project?
Jordana: So, I love MICHELLE. I love that band. The producers from this [EP] are the producers of MICHELLE, and I was just so happy to get to work with them. I was like, I want to make music like MICHELLE. But, of course, not intend[ing] for it to sound exactly the same or anything. It’s interesting how different music can feel, but with the same setup, the same producers and stuff. I was just wanting to make pop music, and they delivered. Very well. Just being in the room with them was enough to inspire me. They’re very great to work with.
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Dylan: You were talking about how both Lively Premonition and Jordanaland feel very confident, or more self-assured. I think it’s interesting how Lively Premonition feels more confident in a way that’s optimistic, with that kind of more light-hearted sound. And then Jordanaland, while it’s a bit more serious, it also feels very confident in the way that it sounds like you’re really advocating for yourself. I just really hear you acknowledging how you feel, but also calling out the people in your life. Like, “I’m feeling this way, but you’re not measuring up. You’re not giving me what I deserve, and I know that.”
Jordana: I think that’s 100% right. Yeah, like, Lively Premonition just kind of feels like [sing-songy] “Give me it now…” And then Jordanaland is just like, [aggressively, while pointing a finger gun at the webcam] “Give me it now!” [both laugh] It is more confident in that way.
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Jordana: Recently, I’ve just been through a writer’s block. When you feel like you can’t write a song, it feels like you’re never gonna write a song again.
Dylan: Is there anything that pulls you out of that normally?
Jordana: You know what’s funny is that, even with mental health, I feel like it’s such tunnel vision of pulling myself out of it that I don’t remember what I do. I never really pay attention to what works, because I feel like I’m in survival mode, almost. Like, if I’m feeling really fucking crazy and manic, I’m so survival mode about it that I can only focus on getting to the light at the end of the tunnel. Doesn’t matter how I get there; doesn’t matter what I do. It’s almost like I blackout.
Dylan: Yeah, it’s fight or flight. Like, you’re in a different state of mind.
Jordana: Yeah, it’s either that, or I just distract myself and hope that it just [comes] back to me. I don’t even know. I think I’m just gonna keep trying new things, and if I reach a breakthrough, I’ll share.
Dylan: Yeah, circle back.
Jordana: I have some friends who tell me that they just write something small every day, even if it’s shitty. I can’t really put my pride aside to do that, but I could probably try [laughs].
Dylan: That is something that I’ve actually found helps, because I’m a writer, but I also hate putting my work out there when it’s really creative or really personal, because I feel like everyone’s pointing and laughing, you know? But, I saw– [do] you know Wednesday, the band?
Jordana: Oh yeah, yeah.
Dylan: Love them. The lead singer [Karly Hartzman] has a blog, and she was talking about how she makes herself write like 20 lines a day or something. And it kind of helps, because they don’t have to all be good, and she knows most of these [she’ll] probably never look at or touch again. And that’s why it’s almost easier, because you’re not expecting yourself to write something good right off the bat. Just write 10 lines or 20 lines or fill a page, and then you can come back to it later, and if you find something cool you can throw it in a song. It’s helpful to just get the juices flowing and shut up that really perfectionist, hypercritical voice in your head.
Jordana: Yeah. You know what that sounds like? Journaling!
Dylan: That part!
Dylan: Are you gonna have any shows tied to this release?
Jordana: Yeah, I’ll do a tour next year.
Dylan: Exciting! I saw you at The Echo this year; that was such a great show. That was really fun.
Jordana: Aww, thank you!
Dylan: Yeah, I really liked the Trump impressions [both laugh].
Jordana: I need to be careful, I don’t think I can do that [anymore].
Dylan: I thought that was funny. I think you should keep doing it.
Jordana: Like next year?
Dylan: Yeah, it’s like a vibe check.
Jordana: It’s like a tic now. I just slip into it.
Dylan: Even just a bad Trump impression is funny, because he’s such a caricature. You’re better at it than I am. But I think it’s funny; I was laughing.
Jordana: Yeah, some people were like, “Boo!”
Dylan: Wait, really?!
Jordana: I was like, “I know. Trust me, I know.”
Dylan: [laughs] That was funny. You really slipped into it. You’re like, singing this beautiful song, and then you’re like, [in a bad Trump impression] “Anyway…”
Jordana: [in a better Trump impression] “So anyway, I’m gonna play another song…” [both laugh]
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Dylan: Is there anything else you wanted to add, other than plugging the EP?
Jordana: I’m gonna have seven music videos.
Dylan: Oh shit.
Jordana: We did seven music videos in five days, for every song on the EP. I still can’t believe we did that. I guess some of them could be technically “visualizers” or something. But visualizer, shmizualizer, is what I say.
Dylan: Yeah. It is a video, and it’s set to music.
Jordana: A visualizer is a music video. That’s what a video is; it’s a visualizer. But that’s a whole different debate [both laugh]. It was a lot of work, and I hope that everyone gets to see them. The “Hard Habit To Break” music video is so funny because it’s like, all comedy. Like Martha Stewart comedy, because I’m, like, making cocktails. And it’s a song about being sober. One of the most heartfelt, genuine [songs] on there. [It] just doesn’t take itself seriously at all in the video.
Dylan: That is funny. It’s like, “I’ll dabble in serious, but not too serious.” Like, let’s keep it silly.
Jordana: Yeah, I don’t really ever take myself serious. I’m not a serious person. At times I am, but I gotta be honest with myself. Comedy is like the basis of happiness, you know?
Dylan: Yeah, best medicine.
Jordana: For real.
Dylan: Well, that’s funny. I’m excited to see those!
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Listen to Jordanaland, out now!
