The new album by Public Speaking, “Songs Need Friends” was written for his fans: the Brooklyn musician Jason Anthony Harris wrote each of its nine electronic tracks for his supporters on Patreon. Listeners filled out a survey about their lives, interests, and what they were going through during the pandemic, and Harris wrote and recorded fully produced songs about them. 

Originally, these were supposed to be private interactions, but as Harris began to compile more and more rich new material from this process, he asked some of his supporters for their permission to share their songs publicly. 

These songs were written for a hospital doctor, a museum curator, a female director in a heavily male field, and various artists and musicians. “Songs Need Friends” is a follow-up to his release from earlier this year “Songs Need People,” an album where he plays all the instruments. For this batch of songs, Harris needed to pull from his talented musician friends and collaborators to help complete these character studies. Whereas the former album was about the absence of others, “Songs Need Friends” rejoices in the presence of other bodies, other voices, even in the midst of caution about coming into contact with them again

Jason Anthony Harris began performing as Public Speaking in 2012. He grew up on a Christmas tree farm in central Florida, and came to New York City in 2004 to get his start in music. Working in Chelsea, and empowered by his heroes in early British glam rock, he also embraced his bisexuality for the first time. He formed multiple bands and performed around the city before going solo in 2009. The Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter has done several solo tours across the U.S., and before the pandemic hit, he was plotting his first European tour.

“This album is compiled from songs written for my Patreon project “I Want to Write a Song About You” and is the follow-up to “Songs Need People” released earlier this year. The listeners fill out a questionnaire about themselves and what they’re going through, and I write and record a song about them within 30 days” Jason reveals