Jessie Ware is back in diva mode. In the video for her new single “I Could Get Used to This,” the British pop star gazes longingly out of a window on a studio set against a lush green backdrop, the pink marabou feathers of her dress—and her curled, wavy hair—fluttering under the blast of a wind machine. She reclines on a chaise longue, wearing a pistachio-green corset, surrounded by a cast of flambant and fabulously dressed dancers, with ancient urns and columns scattered behind them. Next, she appears in a scarlet gown, plucking a pomegranate from an artificial tree, taking a bite, and letting the juice run down her neck.
Photo: Ella Lucia
It’s a playful, pastel-hued ode to physical pleasure—and the confidence of knowing exactly what you want. (“Got you hot under the collar, and I’m burning, burning, burning tonight!” Ware belts on the track, just in case you didn’t get the picture.) “The first line of the song is, ‘Step into my secret garden,'” she says, laughing. “But we also really wanted it to set up the world that I’m inviting people to on this record.”
While the video shows her embracing a sensual, sophisticated pop alter-ego, when I speak to the musician at home the week before its release, it’s the other Jessie Ware on the line. She’s the personable, self-effacing figure who has become a podcasting phenomenon thanks to Table Manners, the chart-topping food show she co-hosts with her mom. “I had my veneer redone this morning, and I feel like I’m speaking like the Grinch,” she says. “It’s not sexy, by the way, I didn’t get new fabulous teeth—my sister knocked them out when I was seven.”
As for how she switches between Ware the pop diva and Ware the affable podcaster? “Perhaps it confuses people which one is my main job, but I still think music is my main job,” she says. Still, “it’s great to have a space away from making the music, so you appreciate it and enjoy doing it even more—there’s less pressure, therefore, you can be more creative.”
Photo: Ella Lucia
That makes sense: It was around the time that Ware’s podcast took off that her music career also enjoyed a well-deserved resurgence, thanks to the sleek, after-dark disco and house of 2020’s What’s Your Pleasure?, followed by the glittering, Motown-inflected soul and funk of 2023’s That! Feels Good!
Now, she’s set to return later this year with another (yet to be formally announced) album, which she’s previously suggested may be the third in a trilogy of Jessie Ware dance records. Given the sound has come to feel like her natural habitat, would she truly consider making a radical genre pivot next time around? “I feel like I messed up saying it’s a trilogy, because maybe they’ll just keep on threading together,” she laughs. “I think that’s what will probably happen. I don’t think I’m going to go off and make a rock album or a folk album any time soon. If I’m enjoying myself and people are enjoying listening to it, I’m going to stay put in this world. But I feel like these [albums] do make sense altogether as a three-part series.”
Photo: Ella Lucia
If What’s Your Pleasure was set in a sweaty, underground nightclub and That Feels Good celebrated the campy glamour of music’s great divas, then “I Could Get Used to This”—and the body of music set to follow—will take listeners to Ware’s version of the Garden of Eden, a world where pleasure is anything but shameful.
“It’s really soulful,” she says of the forthcoming album, noting that she was inspired in part by Nancy Friday’s My Secret Garden, a 1970s collection of women’s sexual desires and fantasies, as well as Gillian Anderson’s contemporary take on a similar format in her 2024 book Want. (Naturally, the idea was sparked by a conversation she had with Anderson on the podcast.) Adds Ware: “[The album is]”It’s enchanting, romantic, sexual, confident, celestial… It’s playing with the idea of the supernatural, fecundity, growth, learning, and feeling strong. She also says she was interested in revisiting some of the themes and sounds of her early music, including the crisp neo-soul of her 2012 breakout record, Devotion. “I think I wanted to go back to that era, but with so much more hindsight and confidence.”
Returning to the “I Could Get Used to This” video, Ware shares that she’s embodying the energy of the ancient Roman goddess Juno. “She was the goddess of women, childbirth, fertility, queen of the heavens—hence the pomegranates and peacocks in the artwork,” Ware explains. But she wanted to give it a contemporary twist, achieved partly through fashion. Throughout the visual, Ware wears looks by Taller Marmo and Les Fleurs, with Tiffany & Co. jewelry, while the dancers are in costumes designed by Ware’s stylist, Ella Lucia. Ware has worked with Lucia for five years and praises the “color and confidence” she’s helped bring to her wardrobe: “She just makes me feel incredible, and I feel like she’s really changed my course. I wear far more feminine clothes now and celebrate my body a bit more.”
That carefree spirit is on full display in the video: “We all feel like we’re playing dress-up in the best way, and I think that’s what makes it fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously.”
It’s also a perfect reflection of the song, which was co-produced by Jon Shave—whose recent credits include Zara Larsson’s “Hot & Sexy” and several tracks on Charli XCX’s Brat—and co-written with Miranda Cooper, the beloved Xenomania songwriter behind some of Girls Aloud and Sugababes’ most brilliantly bold and unhinged hits. “It felt light, celebratory, fun, and playful… it felt delicious,” Ware says with a grin. Six albums in, it’s clear she’s having more fun than ever. “I’m feeling really good,” she says.
“What am I, 41 now? I’ve been doing it for a long time, but I feel more confident than ever, and I feel like it’s all meant to have been like this. I look back at videos of me looking incredibly awkward and apologetic while singing, and now there’s none of that. It’s like, ‘Let’s bloody go!'”
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Jessie Wares new music video and forthcoming album designed to sound like questions from real fans and curious listeners
About the Roman Goddess Music Video Vibe
Q Which music video has the Roman Goddess vibe
A The video for her single Free Yourself It features Jessie and her dancers in draped elegant outfits with a classical statuesque feel
Q What does she mean by a Roman Goddess aesthetic
A Shes referring to a look inspired by ancient Roman statues and mythologythink flowing fabrics golden accents draped silhouettes poses that look powerful and serene and an overall sense of timeless elegance and strength
Q Is the video literally about Roman mythology
A Not literally It uses the visual style and feeling of a goddesspower grace and beautyas a metaphor for confidence and liberation which is the songs theme
Q Who directed the Free Yourself video
A It was directed by Alex Turvey who collaborated with Jessie to create that specific celestial and powerful aesthetic
About the Forthcoming Album
Q What is the name of Jessie Wares new album
A The album is titled That Feels Good
Q When will the album be released
A It was released on April 28 2023
Q She described the album as confident celestial What does celestial mean here
A Celestial means relating to the sky or heaven In this context it suggests the music feels expansive luminous uplifting and outofthisworldlike disco and house music under a starry sky
Q What kind of music can we expect on this confident celestial album
A Expect a vibrant mix of disco 70s and 80sinspired funk soulful house music and lush pop Its danceoriented joyful and designed to make you feel powerful and glamorous
Q How is this album different from her previous album Whats Your Pleasure