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Jul 26, 2024 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Samuel Greenhill

JJ & The Mood is a new alt pop duo from Cincinatti-based cartoonist and vocalist Jack Sjogren and songwriter & producer Joey Joesph. The pair made their debut in 2021 with their single “How Many Times,” and followed last year with another track, “Whatcha Need.” Those tracks saw them drawing on storied pop, soul, and disco influences like Talking Heads, Earth, Wind, & Fire, all while incorporating swells of gospel harmonies and sharp funk basslines.

Today, the pair are back with their latest single, “Tired of Being Tough,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Tired of Being Tough” opens with playful drum fills, an irresistible bass groove, and cascading synth textures before settling into a propulsive and danceable disco beat. Sjogren’s vocals dart between effortlessly cool spoken-word passages and a wild-eyed falsetto, leaning into the track’s unbridled campy charm. Sjogren and Joeseph pack all of the frenzied energy and playful dance breaks of an extended disco cut into a tight three-minute pop song, building into a joyous, glitter-soaked climax. Meanwhile, the lyrics play with the stoic expectations of masculinity, with Sjogren declaring “I’m tired of being tough / I’m done with being cool / I’m sick of standing around all serious, not dancing like a fool.”

Sjogren says of the track, “‘Tired of Being Tough’ is about my journey of unlearning the mores of toxic masculinity and meeting my emotions when they arise rather than stifling them,” Sjogren shares. “In my early twenties, I desperately wanted to seem like an unsmiling, SERIOUS artist. This defense mechanism led to a deep depression and a dissonance between the true joy I felt in my heart and the callous exterior I tried to project. As I’ve grown up, I’ve realized that meeting myself where I am is healthier than focusing on how I think I should be. I wanted to speak that freedom into my own life, which is how I started writing this song.”

Check out the song below, out everywhere now via Trailing Twelve Records.