Pop
Interview: Joe McElderry on turning relationship heartbreaks into an upbeat dance track, why he is 'still eternally single', and rekindling his passion for music
The X Factor 2009 winner Joe McElderry spoke to Contact Music about his new song, Love Me Out Loud, trying to meet his soulmate without the help of dating apps, and how he feels about his grandmother becoming a star at 92.
Joe McElderry is back after almost a four-year break, and this time he is stepping into a more vulnerable chapter of his career as he opens up about heartbreak for the first time through his songwriting.
The X Factor winner - who captured the nation's attention on the ITV singing competition in 2009 - has grown to embrace a more honest approach to music, using past relationships to inspire his new track, Love Me Out Loud.
It discusses the messy emotions of falling for the wrong person, with the pain being lifted by a "thumping dance disco" beat.
Although Joe, 35, is successful in music, his love life has not followed the same path, as the star admits he is "still eternally single". Still, Joe remains optimistic for good things ahead in both his personal and professional life.
Contact Music's Ethan Aaron Banks spoke to Joe about how Love Me Out Loud was created by accident, but rekindled his passion for music, a "love-hate relationship" with dating apps, no longer letting self-doubt or fear hold him back, his grandmother stealing the spotlight from him at 92, and whether The X Factor could return.
Contact Music: The fantastic news is that your new song, Love Me Out Loud, drops on Friday. You must be really excited about the release.
Joe: I am. It’s been a long time since I’ve had music out. I think it’s been nearly four years now. This is a fresh era of music, and it happened by accident. To be honest, I wasn’t really planning on putting a song out for the summer, but I went back into the studio in February and just thought, you know what, I really like this song. It feels great. Let’s get it out there.
Joe McElderry's new track, Love Me Out Loud
So it’s been really fun to get those creative juices flowing again because I’ve been doing a lot of other projects, musical theatre, and touring. I’d lost the love of making my own music, and it’s brought the spark back, which is really exciting.
What made you fall in love with music again?
Joe: I think just being in the studio. I met the writer Hattie Murdoch, who I wrote this song with. I went in for a coffee, and she was like, ‘Well, I’ve got three hours now if you want to try and see what we can come up with.’
There were no rules, and there was no ulterior motive of, ‘Right, we’ve got to make a single, we’ve got to make an album.’ We were just having fun. That natural flow just came.
It is like riding a bike. Once you get into that flow again, it just happens. I think because I’d been so busy with other projects, I’d forgotten what that feeling feels like.
We just ran with it. I left the studio after three hours, threw a quick demo down, and she sent the demo back later that night at about 10 o’clock. I knew straight away - I was like, this could be a single.
You just get a feel for the energy that it had. It was really exciting. Then moving on to being back on set and shooting a music video and being back in all of those creative meetings - it’s been really fun to be immersed back in that naturally, without any rules.
Did the production process come back to you quite quickly when you got back in the studio?
Joe: Yeah, it came back really quickly. I’m not the writer who writes songs all the time. I have to be in a studio and in that setting.
As soon as we went in, we pulled up some references to tracks we were enjoying at the time. I was really set on making a song that was heartbreak - sad, very sad lyrics about a chaotic situation - but giving it that thumping dance disco beat behind it to have that yin and yang contrast, the push and pull of the disco but the sadness at the same time.
With the title Love Me Out Loud, what inspired that title?
Joe: The song is actually about falling for somebody. I think we’ve all been in situations where you fall for somebody, and pretty much from the start, you know they’re not right for you. You almost pre-empt the disaster that’s about to unfold.
It’s about knowing you’re almost in too deep and having to go there because you fell for them and you want them. It’s happened to me before, and it’s happened to many of my friends. You have those conversations with your friends telling you that they’re so wrong for you, and you’re like, ‘I know, but I like them, I love them, and I want them.’
And then the chorus is that frustration of the breakup when you know it’s done and you know it’s over, but you’re willing for them to be where you need them to be. You have people say, ‘Let’s just do it and make it happen.’ It’s that kind of frustration that we all go through in heartbreak, saying, ‘Just love me out loud - let’s just make it happen.’ It’s the frustration of all of that going wrong.
It’s quite a depressing song, actually, but the energy of the pop disco beat uplifts that. Sometimes people don’t realise how sad it actually is.
What message do you want people to take away from this song?
Joe: I think it’s about loving and loss and the emotions we all go through. Sometimes people feel vulnerable after a breakup and feel lost and don’t know where to turn.
It’s leaning into that message that love and heartbreak and relationships can be messy, but it’s all part of the journey of life.
With this song, we want people to dance away the heartbreak. If you can give yourself a dance and an anthem to get yourself through it, that’s what we’re trying to give people.
How did it feel for you to talk about your past relationship breakdowns on this track?
I used to struggle with that when I was younger. I used to be very conscious of making songs more universal.
But as I’ve gotten older, I enjoy using life experiences to put pen to paper. I find people relate to that so much more.
When I’ve played people the song behind the scenes, they’ve said, ‘These lyrics are literally what I’m going through right now.’
When you lean into vulnerability and share that with people, it reaches people in a more authentic way, which is great.
Did it lift a weight off your shoulders?
Joe: Whenever you express yourself through art, it’s a way of releasing experiences and situations.
I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a weight off my shoulders. I think it’s being authentically who you are through your music, which is a powerful thing.
You’ve said before that you thought you’d be “eternally single”. How is your dating life at the moment?
Joe: I am still eternally single.
But I feel like this is the year of new opportunities. I’m very busy with work and touring, and my motto now is I don’t try to force anything.
If it’s meant to be and Prince Charming is out there, I’m sure he’ll find me somehow. It might take him 20 years, it might take him three months.
Do you prefer meeting people in person, through dating apps, or through DMs?
Joe: I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with dating apps. No judgment - people meet the love of their lives on them.
But I find them a bit monotonous. I prefer being able to talk to somebody and get to know somebody properly rather than through a phone screen.
Everything is social media-based now, so it’s finding the middle ground.
You can build a better rapport in person, can’t you?
We very much live in a world where things are so instantaneous. It’s hard to find real connections through that. But I think that’s just the way the world is with social media, our attention spans, and the way we view things. Everything is just an overload online.
So it’s just navigating through that, but I suppose that’s a thing that everyone experiences.
Social media has changed so much. Do you think it would be harder for you to start now than it was in 2009 when you won The X Factor?
Joe: The platform I had from The X Factor has given me such a long and successful career, and I’ve used that platform to build stepping stones, which I’m very lucky for.
Joe McElderry performing on The X Factor in December 2009
But what’s exciting for younger artists now is that the boundaries the industry used to have on it, because of record labels and management, are much looser.
I was the artist who took their music directly to audiences without constraints. I think that’s really exciting for established and up-and-coming artists because you can build an audience on your own platforms. We’ve seen people go viral on TikTok and build huge audiences in months.
That direct contact between artist and audience is really special, and what the audience wants.
Do you think social media is a better route than talent shows?
Joe: There are plenty of avenues into the industry. I’m never going to say, ‘Don’t go on a reality show,’ because it gave me a life and career I could only have dreamt of.
But people consume media differently now. We don’t have 20 million people tuning into one television show every week anymore.
There’s no rulebook now. Artists can play by their own rules.
Could The X Factor make a comeback?
Joe: If it did, it would have to be in a very different way.
I don’t know whether people sit down on a Saturday night and watch a television show anymore. People watch catch-up TV, clips on TikTok and YouTube.
There’s probably a format for it to return in some way, but whether it’s every Saturday night, I don’t know. Maybe it could be an online thing?
The way you promote a record is so different now. All of your energy is focused on social media.
I remember when my first record came out, I’d sit in a car and travel around every record station in the country for a week. Now, a young artist would just sit in front of a laptop and do it all online.
Do you miss the old way of promoting music?
Joe: It was really fun. You used to go to radio stations and do little concerts and album signings. It was a great way to meet fans.
Joe McElderry giving an autograph to a fan
What’s lovely is that I’ve noticed vinyl signings and album signings seem to be coming back, which is a great way to connect with your audience.
Back in the day, you’d get in a car and travel everywhere. It was an amazing experience to be able to do that.
You were only 18 when fame arrived. How did you navigate that?
Joe: It was like throwing a bouncy ball off a wall and watching it bounce everywhere.
The first three years were an adjustment period - learning the music industry and learning to be in the public eye. Those are almost two different jobs. You’ve got to get business savvy very quickly, and you’ve also got to learn how to deal with fame. Nobody can teach you how to do that unless they’ve experienced it.
I was lucky. I had really good people around me. My mum travelled everywhere with me in the early days - it was like having a personal Rottweiler on my shoulders - and made sure I was OK.
Would I change it? I don’t think so because it gave me the skills I need for the music industry and the world of entertainment.
Although it was intense, the lessons that I had to learn were vital to have a career in this industry.
Did fame contribute to you falling in and out of love with music?
Joe: I don’t think so.
I got into the habit of touring and musical theatre, and I think I put restrictions on myself of thinking, ‘Can you just go into a studio and put a song out?’ And sometimes you get on that treadmill of work, and then you think, ‘Oh, maybe I can’t do that.’
And then I just had this overwhelming feeling back in February, I’d had a holiday, had some rest, and thought, ‘I’m ready to make music again. I’m ready to put myself back in the ring.’
Everything I do has to feel authentic, and I think it felt authentic again, so I was like, ‘I’m ready to go.’ It wasn’t like this overly conscious decision; it was a natural feeling of that urge to go, ‘I really want to get into a studio and write some stuff,’ and it feels like the time is right.
You had no rules making Love Me Out Loud.
Joe: I’ve been doing this for nearly 17 years, and I trust my skills and knowledge of the industry now. I don’t think I necessarily had that when I was younger.
With that comes a bit of freedom, not that you’re necessarily being controlled by anyone else; it’s almost like you’re your own confidence and your own ability. As you become more experienced, you think, ‘Yeah, why not? Just do it. I don’t have that fear anymore.’
It’s been almost 20 years since you burst onto our screens. How does that feel?
Joe: It makes me feel very old.
But I feel lucky that I still get to do something I love after all this time and still have opportunities coming my way.
When people asked me when I first started out where I saw myself in 10 years, my answer always used to be, ‘I hope I’m still doing it in 10 years.’ Now we’re nearly at 20 years.
What’s lovely is that I still love it as much as I did on day one. That love and passion that I had back in the day, I still love nothing more than heading out on the road touring and being in front of the audiences - some that have grown up with me and watched me grow up during my career.
I feel very grateful and blessed to do what I do.
Joe McElderry performing Sunshine Concert at the Troxy
How’s Grandma Hilda?
Joe: She’s completely stolen the limelight from me.
She’s great. She’s 92 this year. We’ve done a lot of podcast episodes together and a few sell-out shows - she sells out shows quicker than me now, which is slightly embarrassing.
She’s actually in the new music video for the track. The video is set in the Heartbreak Launderette, where you take your emotional baggage to get rid of it after a breakup, and she’s my very own Dot Cotton; she plays the owner of the launderette.
And there’s a little bit of a twist halfway through the song, and she turns into another character.
She’s in her Calvin Harris era!
The launderette scene was shot in Sunderland, wasn’t it?
Yes. We took over a launderette called the Cresswell Launderette, and it was amazing.
The original video was meant to be shot in a forest. The original idea was going to be a disco-meets-and-into-the-woods vibe, where you’re running through this forest with your lonely thoughts and things.
And we had a couple of meetings with the production company that shot the music video, and someone suggested a launderette. And I said, ‘Well, if we’re going to a launderette, then we have to make it the theme of heartbreak and fabric conditioner that washes out your ex.’
We lean into the puns on that. There’s lots of little easter eggs in the video. If people look out, they can see all of the themes of heartbreak in the launderette theme.
What’s Hilda's secret to staying young?
Joe: I think it’s her mentality. She goes out with her friends most days, and she comes on the road with me when I’m touring. She has a real no-nonsense view on life.
I asked her what advice she’d give someone younger and reaching the age of 92, and she said, ‘You have to live your life each day because I’ve lost a lot of people in my life, and I live for the people that didn’t get the opportunity to still be here like I am.’
And I thought that’s a beautiful message to anyone, isn't it? Some people who aren’t here anymore would kill to have the years or days or weeks that they didn’t get.
And that’s her zest for life, and it’s truly inspirational.
Also, if you need an honest opinion, Grandma Hilda will tell you how it is. Never ask something if you don’t want the truth from her.
Looking back over your 17-year career, what are you most proud of?
Joe: I’m proud of navigating the industry from a young age and still having joy for it, and being able to have fun.
Sometimes, it can be quite a chaotic industry and a little bit overwhelming, but I’m really proud that I can enjoy the fun of it all now.
I take a lot of it with a pinch of salt. It’s entertainment, and it’s supposed to be lighthearted and fun.
I feel very proud of the mindset that I have over the industry because it allows me to enjoy the best parts of it in the best way.
Love Me Out Loud is available now on streaming platforms.
