Now, this was a collaboration we didn’t realise we needed until now. Justin Jesso and Nina Nesbitt have teamed up on the brand new single “Let It Be Me”, which was previously released on Justin Jesso’s EP of the same name that dropped earlier this year. The release of this song follows up his feature on DJ Panda Boladao’s song “Stargaz” and his remix EP of “Stitch Em Up”; whereas this follows up Nina Nesbitt’s collaboration with teamwork. & AJ Mitchell titled “Afterhours“.
Justin Jesso, real name Justin Stein, is a rising singer-songwriter who you may have already heard of as he featured on KYGO’s awesome song “Stargazing” which gained global chart success, hitting the top ten in The Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, and Hungary. He soon launched his solo career after this featured track success, releasing his debut EP, titled Let It Be Me, back in March, with “Stitch Em Up” being his debut solo single. Prior to his singing career, he had success as a songwriter having written for the likes of HRVY, AJ Mitchell, The Backstreet Boys, and Armin Van Buuren, as well as being nominated for a Latin Grammy award for co-writing Ricky Martin’s song “Vente Pa’ Ca” which features Maluma. We also managed to interview Justin Jesso about this new single and music video, so be on the lookout for that article in the coming days.
As for Nina Nesbitt, she’s certainly well known in the UK, having gained success with her early releases including “Stay Out”, “Selfies”, and “Chewing Gum” as well as charting at number 11 on the UK albums chart with the debut Peroxide, but hit number one on the Scottish charts. In recent years she has created a new musical path for herself going on to release her second studio album The Sun Will Come Up, the seasons will change, which charted at number 21 in the UK but number five in Scotland. It spawned a total of seven singles two of which charted in the UK, Scotland, Ireland, and Belgium – these were “Somebody Special” and “Loyal To Me“. She’s collaborated with the likes of Don Diablo, Sigala, HRVY, and Jonas Blue. She’s certainly a staple in the British music industry.
This song, “Let It Be Me”, has been written by Ben Berger, Justin Jesso, and Ryan McMahon, whilst it was produced by Captain Cuts and Petey Martin. As for the music video, it was directed by Kyle Cogan who previously directed Justin Jesso’s music video for “Getting Closer”.
“‘Let It Be Me’ is what I would say to the person I want to spend the rest of my life with,” says Justin Jesso. “I would want them to know that no matter what hardships we would face, I would be there. I knew the song needed something special to finish it off, and when I heard Nina [Nesbitt] for the first time, I knew she was the missing piece. Vocally, she is a gentle powerhouse and her voice has this emotional honesty that just jumps off records while also drawing you in.”
Nina Nesbitt adds, “I came across Justin on the Kygo track, ‘Stargazing’. I instantly fell in love with his voice and when he reached out to collab I was really excited about it. ‘Let It Be Me’ is such a beautiful song and feels like the perfect track to collab on.”
Watch Justin Jesso & Nina Nesbitt’s Music Video To “Let It Be Me” Here:
Fuelled with so much heartfelt passion, both Justin Jesso and Nina Nesbitt shine vocally on this track, melding their voices together spectacularly. The lyrics paint a story of being there for your loved one through the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, the good days and the bad. It’s a brilliant love song, and both artists throw in their love of music to the track allowing every listener to feel what they feel towards the track. The beautiful message behind the song paired with their awesome voices gives us goosebumps – this song is pure magic.
The music video interprets the song in a different way, showcasing an absolutely brilliant and heart-capturing narrative, with a slight performance scene towards the end. The opening scene sees a young boy holding a bag of frozen peas to his bruised face, he sits down at his desk where he starts to write about his day, starting off with the words, “My first day at my new school was awf…” before changing it into, “My first day at my new school was awesome”. We then flashback to his day, watching him walk on to the bus only to be taunted by various kids who won’t let him sit by them. He strikes a friendship with a young girl and when she is targetted by a bully, our main character – the young Justin Jesso – stands up for her. He gets punched but then he throws one back, at which point the bus driver notices and attempts to diffuse the situation.
In standing up for her, our main character takes the girl to the dance and we later flash forward to find out they’re actually Justin Jesso and his on-screen lover. This is also where we see a slight performance piece of Justin Jesso singing the song inside the bus, only this time it’s empty. The scenes stop as we go back to the young Justin Jesso in his bedroom at his desk, he rips out the creative, imaginary story he wishes was true and starts again, with the words, “While all that would’ve been cool… today was ok”.
Talk about heart-wrenching. It’s clear his first day at school was actually awful and those bruises on his face are possibly from bullies, but they can’t take away his awesome imagination. Our heart really goes out to him and all the other bullied kids in the world as well as the adults who deal with hate crime on a daily basis. We’ve all had really tough days but it’s all about getting through them and not letting them defeat you but allowing them to make you stronger.
“Let It Be Me” is available to download and stream right now, through COLUMBIA which is a division of Sony Music Entertainment Germany.