The Jonas Brothers have been teasing new music since 2020, but Joe Jonas promises it’s going to be worth the wait. “The music, it’s headed towards – I just think a whole new era,” he tells POPSUGAR.
In the meantime, he asks that fans respect his and his brothers’ process as they develop their next album. “I don’t have a ton to say about it because we’re taking our sweet time. I don’t have a date for you. I don’t have really a musical idea of what it’ll sound like or what it won’t,” Joe says. “I just can tell you that it’s a work in progress, and I encourage everyone to be patient with us as we figure this out, but we’re not going to do it like other times, where we just go silent. We’re going to continue to play music and play shows and tour. I’m really excited for people to hear it.”
After reuniting and releasing “Happiness Begins” in 2019, the Jonas Brothers announced that their sixth album was on its way, with Kevin revealing it’s been in the works for “a couple of years now” in a July 2022 interview with “Live With Kelly and Ryan.” During the same interview, Nick said that the album is his “favourite stuff we’ve ever done.”
While they work on their music, the brothers have continued touring. Earlier this year, they held a residency in Las Vegas, and recently, they the announced a second one slated for November, per Rolling Stone. During their shows, the brothers make sure to honour the nostalgic aspect of their band, as well as their new vision. “We’ve been trying to play a lot of older, familiar songs,” Joe says. “We played songs from our first album and then we were telling these stories – ‘Oh, this song is coming up on 17 years old.’ I’m sure we feel old when we say those things, but you realise how important these songs have been for our fans and their lives. They grew up with us and our music . . . I can be just as proud as the stuff that I created when I was 16 or 17 and just as proud as the new stuff that’s yet to come.”
Before coming back together and embracing their older work, the Jonas Brothers needed time to individuate and create something new. “When we broke up, Nick and I both went on journeys to figure out what our musical sound was individually. And that was very essential for us,” Joe says. “I felt like it opened up so many doors for exploration for myself, musically, figuring out what I can do on my own.” During the hiatus, Joe “really went on a journey to figure out musically what it was that was my happy place.”
His happy place, as it turns out, is a fusion of “funk-inspired elements to ’70s disco, with even some punk scene era stuff that I loved to listen to when I was younger,” a fusion that led to his band DNCE. The group’s biggest hit so far – “Cake By the Ocean” – garnered a lot of hate on social media at first, but Jonas says that over the years, he’s learned to tune out the noise and protect his artistic vision. “Some people that aren’t even in the music industry will tell you what they think you should sound like, but you’re the only person that can really discover those things,” he explains.
There’s new DNCE music in progress, too – in February, the band returned after a four year interim with a new single and video called “Dancing Feet.” As far as being in two bands at once goes, Joe feels that merely enhances his creative capabilities. “[It] just makes us more creative all around,” he explains of his brothers reuniting after spending time on their solo projects.
This summer, Jonas is also celebrating a role in the movie “Devotion,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 12. Jonas plays a Navy pilot in the film, which tells the true story of elite fighter pilots Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner, who fought in the Korean War. Jonas – who stepped out at the premiere with wife Sophie Turner after welcoming their second child – has an original song in the film’s end credits as well.
Joe may be booked and busy, but he’s just following his heart. “If you’re happy with something and you’re proud of something,” he says, “then that’s all that matters.”
