Jaz Karis is on the move. The London-born R&B singer spent the years since the release of her 2017 debut EP, Into the Wilderness, honing a sound that traverses the sun-kissed melodies of LA and the raw-voiced lyrical expression of London soul and collaborating with UK rap artists such as Kojey Radical, as well as Nigerian producer Blaq Jerzee. Inspired by her splitting her time between London and LA, the singer’s debut album, SAFE FLIGHT, is a rich, journeying love story embodying her transition from place to place. “The album came together as I was travelling to write it and getting messages from family and friends all telling me to have a safe flight,” Karis tells Apple Music. “It’s about taking risks in a new place, pushing myself creatively, and not knowing what was going to come next.” The result is a beautifully intricate 13 tracks encompassing everything from the gospel-influenced expression of “LYTM” to the amapiano grooves of “SIMS CASTAWAY”, guitar-strumming balladry on “TALK ABOUT IT” and the breezy soul of “CHILL ON ME”. “London is real life and LA isn’t,” says Karis laughing. “I love both and I’m a lover girl in my life—this album represents all these sides of me.” Read on for her in-depth thoughts on the album, track by track. “NOSTALGIA (Intro)” “I’m a very nostalgic person and I wanted to start the album with the voices of my loved ones sharing their warmth and familiarity. It’s an opening track about letting go of things I was holding onto and setting the stage for the love story to come. It ends with a radio drop from one of my biggest supporters, KISS FM’s DJ Ace, who sets things up for ‘LYTM’.” “LYTM” “‘LYTM’ stands for ‘love you that much’. It’s a song about the ending of a relationship and beginning on a new journey in understanding that, if you love someone, sometimes you have to let them go. It’s also about realising what it’s like to unfortunately be back on these streets! Musically, it has a gospel warmth, which reminded me of the church settings I grew up in and an earlier track of mine, ‘Sunrise’, from my first project.” “TEQUILA” (with Reekado Banks) “This track represents the exciting rush of starting something new, which is like drinking tequila—and we drank a lot of it while making this song too! I wrote the whole song initially just for me but, once it was done, my executive producer suggested Reekado for a feature, which was a dream come true since I’m obsessed with his songs. I love what he added to the track.” “SUNSET BLVD” “We’re properly in LA on the album now and I wanted this song to feel exactly like how I experience driving down Sunset Boulevard, which is breezy, warm and carefree. It’s such a cool-sounding track and, lyrically, it’s a sweet love letter to my significant other.” “TALK ABOUT IT” “I feel like my generation can be quick to quit things and give up very easily on love, but sometimes you have to find the patience to figure things out if you want to make it work. I wrote this song about being a lover girl and feeling the temptation to walk away from things but making yourself stay to try and talk about it.” “MET YOU AT A BAR” (with Tone Stith) “At this point in the love story of the record, unfortunately things haven’t worked out and we’re back out dating. It embellishes on a real story of how I met a guy at a bar and the encounter made me think about the dating scene being full of unserious people who aren’t always ready to engage. I met Tone Stith at the BET Awards a while back and knew he would be perfect to give a male perspective on this track, and he didn’t hold back!” “WATER (Interlude)” “I love interludes as a way to break up the sound of a record and ‘WATER’ is a dreamscape that does exactly that. It was originally just an instrumental but, as I was tying up the album and frantically packing to head to LA, my friend Charlie Heat sent me such a deep voice note that made me cry listening to it. I begged him to let me put it on ‘WATER’ and he agreed but said he’d never send me one again! It’s a personal favourite on the album.” “SIMS CASTAWAY” (with Juls) “Most of the songs on the record were written in 2024 but this one was created during the COVID lockdowns, when I was only writing music and playing The Sims. I wanted to have a song on the album that reflected that feeling of having a great time while playing, and this beat that Juls sent me just fit perfectly. He always has an amazing way of making my vocals float every time we work together.” “CHILL ON ME” (with June Freedom) “‘CHILL ON ME’ eases us back into the storytelling part of the record where I’m recounting a toxic aspect of love when you realise you want someone around but also that they’re not the one, just a good time. The lyrics are cold but I wanted it musically to sound sweet and smooth and that’s really emphasised by June Freedom’s feature, who has one of my favourite vocal tones in the world. This is my mum’s favourite on the album!” “2242” “This track continues that toxic trait of not wanting to lose someone but also not wanting to have them completely at the same time. Tone Stith produced it and we had such a fun time writing it together. The title refers to the time of 10:42 pm, which evokes the mood of the song, and it also happened to be the code for the bathroom in the studio! It’s the 10th song on the album, so it all makes sense.” “NICE GIRLS” (with Mahalia) “I’ve wanted to work with Mahalia for a long time but nothing quite fit until I wrote this song. It’s about us being two lover girls grappling with feeling hurt, despite always trying our best to be nice and to take the moral route in romance. I wanted someone from the UK on the album and Mahalia killed it. I wrote the track in Texas, sent it to her in London, and she came back with the perfect verse that sums up the feeling of the song.” “LOVE ME” “‘LOVE ME’ is the end of the love story on the album. After heartbreak, dating, being toxic and feeling hurt, this is me ending the cycle and realising that, even without someone, you’re good. It was a raw song for me to create and I poured all of myself onto the track, making it a soft ballad to talk my stuff as we come to a close.” “PRAYER” “I had to end the album with a prayer because I always end each day with one. I wanted it to represent the fact that there’s always something bigger than a love story in life. The song is written about someone I love who is suffering from alcohol abuse. It embodies love as forgiving and patient and sends the message that no one is perfect but we can always give each other grace.”