Grammy-nominated songwriter J.R. Price is out now with his Nightmare EP, the follow-up to his debut EP, Daydream. Where Daydream was full of happy, sun-shiney pop songs, Nightmare is the opposite. “My light has been completely depleted,” Price, who has recently sustained a devastating break-up, admits. “The darkness I have felt lately is unlike any of the other things I have been through, because I was given hope first, then had it ripped away.”
JR Price will perform tracks from Nightmare on August 4th at Rebar; and on August 22nd at 3 Dollar Bill for the anniversary show of Vinyl Fantasy.
To those who believe it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, Price disagrees. “After heartbreak, I am the exact opposite of who I used to be,” he explains. “I’m full of shadows and hatred. I am mad all the time. I cry myself to sleep. I wake up every few hours. I can’t talk to my friends. I am living in a nightmare.”
His EP explores the five stages of grief, starting with “Dagger,” a song about the first cut to bleed and the denial of accepting the reality of the situation. The second single is the title track, about suffering through the aftermath of the split: the anger and the crushing heartache. He will release a dance remix of the title track on August 22nd.
In “Tiny”, the third single on Nightmare EP and the first release from it, Price sings about coming to the realization that the love who diminished him is really the one who is miniscule with little compassion and a shrunken heart. The song calls out all men who cause pain and feel no remorse.
“’Tiny’ is how I imagine an Ed Sheeran angry dance song might sound,” J.R. Price reflects. “It’s an alternative dance track; very intoxicating, witchy, sexy and vengeful.”
The music video features Price and his sorcery sistas seeking revenge for his heartbreak by summoning his ex into the woods with seducing spells. “It gets steamy and emotional! I finally got to act and use that theatre degree I worked so hard for!”
The fourth track on Nightmare is “To the Ghost” and it brilliantly represents the fourth stage of grief, that of depression. It leads into the final track, “I Have Me”, a dramatic and grand rock anthem that Price says is the most important song on the EP. “It shows that positivity doesn’t mean letting pain go. It’s about owning the pain and learning from it. Carrying your baggage with ease.”
Through the process of writing and recording Nightmare, J.R. Price has finally come to the realization that the love he has been seeking from other can only be found in himself. “I have learned that I must accept what I have been dealt in life and that the only thing I can change is how I view myself. I have to love myself. That’s the real message I received while making Nightmare.”
Follow J.R. Price on Instagram @ jrpriceless5eva and Facebook @ JRPricePop. Visit JRPrice.org.
