Premiere: Nicole Kiki Jaffe, ‘Stay’

Kevin Bronson on May 30th, 2019

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It’s one thing to lose in love, but quite another to lose the capacity to love — to simply write off the heart as “damaged goods.” The debut single from L.A. singer-songwriter Nicole Kiki Jaffe, “Stay,” wonders about those wounds that won’t heal.

Jaffe, who grew up in Orange County embracing musical theater, took up guitar and ukulele in college and began writing songs at the urging of friends, finding that the process offered catharsis after a “whirlwind relationship” soured. In her gigs around L.A., Jaffe’s confessionals have been notable for their direct lyrical style, her nimble vocal range and textures that echo some of the strong artists of the 1990s. In “Stay,” you might hear some of the urgency of the Cranberries.

“‘Stay’ is not a love song. It’s a song about love,” Jaffe says. “Can love coexist with trauma and eventually overcome it? This song is my attempt to find out. It’s my plea to someone I once loved, someone who hurt me in ways that are hard to talk about. … When a bone breaks, the site of the fracture heals and eventually becomes the strongest part. I wanted to see if we could heal and if the broken part could become stronger. And so I asked him to stay. To stay instead of running away. To stay so I could understand. To stay so I could take back what was taken from me. To stay so I could forgive him. To stay so that I might love again and without reservation.”

“Stay” is officially out today.

||| Stream: “Stay”