Sometimes, it takes Armageddon to bring a couple together. Such is the scenario in the video for “If The World Was Ending,” the collaboration between JP Saxe and Grammy-nominated singer Julia Michaels, debuting on Oct 17. After the Emergency Alert System warns of a “significant environmental event” hitting the United States, the video cuts to two lovers – JP Saxe and Julia – reviewing their last text conversation. As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration instructs citizens to seek refuge in their nearest fallout shelter, JP reads how Julia needed some “space.” Suddenly, with extinction looming, the two reevaluate their priorities and are forced to decide just how they want to spend their last few hours on Earth.
“Julia and I wrote this song the day we met,” JP tells HollywoodLife. “It was a couple of weeks after the last earthquake in LA. We were talking about the reasons people have to not to talk to the people they really want to talk to…but know they shouldn’t talk to…and how many of those reasons would hold up in the apocalypse.”
“If The World Was Ending” is a heartfelt ballad perfect for the end times and the rough times. Though the lovers in the song have been separated for “a year,” and JP has just now “figured out how to let you go,” he still wants reassurance that despite this split, they’d still be there for each other if worse came to worst. (“But, if the world was ending, you’d come over, right? You’d come over and stay the night?”) It’s a simple but incredibly powerful line that encapsulates the theme at the core of the song.
While the pain of the breakup in the song is real (“Think I’ve figured out how…to think about you without it ripping my heart out”), clearly, the underscoring sentiment is that the love between these two is stronger than anything – be it a fight or the end of the world. If anything, “If The World Was Ending” drives home the message that ultimately, love endures.
“If The World Was Ending” follows JP’s single, “Women Who Look Like You, which featured rapper GuapDad 4000. JP – a Toronto-born, LA-based singer-songwriter — self-released “The Few Things,” a song that accumulated over 50 million streams and ultimately led to him signing with Arista Records. He plans to drop some more music for the rest of the year. He’s currently on tour with Noah Kahan – check here for dates.
Julia kicked off 2019 by releasing her Inner Monologue Part 1 EP, before dropping Inner Monologue Part 2 in June. The third installment of the Inner Monologue series has yet to be released, but she’s hinted that it’s on its way.