The Sound of Something Breaking Open
Releasing “Be As One” — and What the Song Taught Me
Dear friends,
I'm proud to share Be As One today! It is the fourth in my ongoing series of 12 new songs this year.
🎧 Listen on Spotify:
About the Song:
Writing "Be As One" was a breakthrough song for me. I’d probably been trying too hard when I set out to write this album.
That’s the weird thing about creativity — or any of our dreams, in fact. You sense it’s in there, but can you get to the dam thing? Will life, money, history, fate allow you to uncover it?
During that time, I felt all of my life swirling within me. Maybe it’s a dangerous space, too — to need to get to it.
That’s why the song finds me bustling through the city — through its parks and boulevards in day or partnered by the neon lights at night. Are you chasing something or being chased by it?
People get so fixated on the idea of inspiration when it comes to creativity. But sometimes, it’s not about inspiration at all. It’s about being haunted by something you have no idea how to bring into being—because you’re not yet the conduit it needs to pass through. And that gap—between who you are and who you could be—or maybe just the fear that you’ll be forever stuck in the space between—that’s where the torment lives.
I think a lot of unhappiness in the world exists because we live in this space without the faith we’ll ever quite manage to realise that sense of “could-ness” in us.
It’s why the modern distraction is such a cancer. If we cannot be with ourselves, how can we become ourselves?
The song is about the fight within that space—in myself—but also the arrival at something new. There’s a eureka in it too: not when something arrives and says it all, but when you know you’ve stepped into a new space in yourself. The song is the byproduct of that shift.
I guess that’s the emotional arc of the song. In the verse, there’s desperation, hunger, desire, questioning—stomping, running to, running towards. And all the while, you’ve got no damn idea whether you’re a brave idiot or a delusional fool.
Is it the falsest bravery
Or the courage that you need?
And that’s another curiosity about creativity: what part is driven by ego, by the need to be seen—and what part is about surrendering to something ancient that’s calling you? Often it’s mangled and mashed together—because that’s called being human.
As I wrote the song, I realised something beautiful, something tough.
That the part of me, as a young man, that craved validation, success, and to be seen had been blunted—softened—by the beautiful way the world humbles you, over and over.
Maybe it’s only in reaching that humility that some other gateway opens—to what’s available in the spiritual life of a human being.
I think you hear it in the chorus—the yearning, the joy, the laughter at the sheer ridiculous tininess of your own life—all collapsing in on itself.
And all that leads to the question and the coda:
Will I ever be as one?
After recording the song at Lonepine Studios in Berlin, I felt something was missing and called my old and great friend Ben Barritt, and we rustled up a magnificent pop-up choir to complete the song.
After a fair bit of wandering those winding inner corridors, it felt wonderful to give in to life, to be within it, and to feel thankful for this moment of collective expression, joy, and old-fashioned fun. Ben wrote the most lovely (and tough) parts for the choir—God, they were a nightmare to sing!!!!
Releasing the song brings full circle a question that had been tormenting me before I even began the project. It feels like an answer to the spirit’s challenge, if you like.
I wanted to write a few words to give you a key into its heart. But most of all I just hope you enjoy it and it puts the bounce in your shoes this May.
In there is the need to love and be loved. The yearning to be as one. The quiet knowledge: you’ve still got a part to play. And amidst it all—hammering the piano, swinging like hell—you realise, maybe without even knowing it, you’ve got your swagger back.
Thank you to my friends and family for your support on this musical road. I’m grateful, humbled, thankful. And a big love to everyone involved in recording this song!
Jim
P.S. Saving the song on Spotify is a huge support because it means more people will hear it
About the Video
The video was recorded during one of my favourite days of the year in Berlin—Karneval der Kulturen. What started as a celebration of cultural diversity is now a moving collage of resistance, joy, migration, and shared humanity. It’s not just a parade—it’s Berlin saying: we contain multitudes. I love the day with all my heart, and this year, I wanted to explore it with my camera in hand. During it, the city felt as glorious one.
Here are some photos from the day:
