Jules Rendell – Talking About Mental Health

“I know that I’m intelligent, my confidence just died” //” A piece of mind […] see you’re thinking too much, plus you’re too fooling yourself; worried about your career, ever think of your health?”- Kendrick Lamar’s untitled unmastered.

“Don’t forget the happy thoughts, all you need is happy thoughts” // “I made it through, made it through, made it through” // “You are very special, you are special too, everyone is special” – Chance The Rapper’s Coloring Book.

“There’s beauty in your struggles, ugliness in the success” J. Cole’s Love Yourz.

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In Hip-Hop some of the most inspirational artists have been talking about mental health, the idea of success and the pursuit of happiness.

Meanwhile, in the Soul and Gospel world, we lately had Sharlene Monique with her song You and now here we have Jules Rendell, back again from our last interview in 2015.

She’s about to release her fifth work, after The Lotus Bloom EP. It’s an upcoming album titled Imagine, which recalls the Kirk Franklin’s track Imagine Me, also about stress, pain in life and mental health.

Debut single is ‘Old Friend’, produced by Feranmi Oguns (Jake Isaac, Josh Record) and Bastian Testori from OL Music. A much more Pop friendly tune than what we used to know from the Soul and Gospel singer songwriter.

However we recognize the great creativity of the artist with the whistles and harmonies.

Jules stays the same, even if she’s stepping into different lanes of creativity and songwriting, the same way she she stepped out of London to go find an old friend of hers in the streets of Manchester.

She did blossom out of the cocoon of London, and colored her mind with brighter shades once in Manchester, concerned about mental health, self worth, perfectionism and imagination.

As Jules explains:

“I wanted to make music that reflected the sounds of the city I live in, and its pressures.

When I was writing for the album, I felt such pressure around me; travelling at a million miles an hour but feeling like I was getting nowhere, concerned by how much sway ‘success’ had on my self worth.

So I left London to see one of my oldest friends in Manchester and I felt centred again; I remembered who I was meant to be.”

Exploring themes of , the anticipated IMAGINE album is set for release in March 2018. Birmingham-born Rendell made London her home a decade ago, where she has been honing her craft as a singer, songwriter, vocal arranger and backing vocalist (JP Cooper, Beverly Knight, X Factor, Gorillaz to name a few). Her live performances include a sell out show at the London Hippodrome, O2 Islington, Manchester Academy and a live performance on Robert Elms BBC London show. TV and film credits include OH TV, The Ayala Show, BBC 1Xtra live session (with vocal group Get Gospel) and a placement on US feature film, ‘The Father’s Love’ for her song ‘Thank You’.

The album is expected for March 2018.