Jae Stephens: It’s a late night summertime vibe with the I Miss The City (The Author) music video
Forget a ton of cinematic moments - it’s all eyes and the camera on crooner Jae Stephens working atop a roof and letting her music pour out in the ‘I Miss The City (The Author)’ music video.
Heartfelt honesty and summertime vibes brewing from start to finish. Fully tap in.
Buzzy pop singer / songwriter Jae Stephens brings personal duality with back-to-back singles “I Miss The City” and “Gymnastics” - out now via Def Jam Recordings. Listen HERE. The juxtaposing tracks - officially debuting on Apple Music’s Zane Lowe - are the newest sample of what’s to come on her debut album AUDACITYmaking its landing on September 25th across all streaming platforms.
Uninterested in choosing between the different sides of herself, Jae embraces the duality of “I Miss The City” and “Gymnastics” by pairing introspection with irreverence, vulnerability with confidence, and emotional release with unapologetic freedom. “I Miss The City” - produced by MNEK (Zara Larsson, Dua Lipa) - is distinct from Jae’s previous releases by embodying a more sparsely produced structure with ethereal instrumentation and dreamy pop tones that carries the messaging of her yearning for socializing, spontaneity, and overall freedom. The accompanying visualizer depicts Jae set atop a rooftop above the city overlooking the city she is ready to take back.
“Gymnastics” - produced by Dallas Caton - mirrors “I Miss The City” by effortlessly evading a pseudo lover who tries to turn a fling into something more permanent. Her refusal to be pinned down becomes the central punchline of the track - “Can’t trap me, baby, watch me do gymnastics / thought he had me, then I hit him with a backflip.” Together both singles capture two complementary expressions of Jae Stephens’ autonomy and reinforce forthcoming album AUDACITY by messaging Jae is most comfortable moving by her own rules.
“[I Miss The City] is the sweet spot of the album. The instrumental feels light-hearted and endearing while the lyrics paint a darker picture of a bored city girl desperate for freedom from the mundane. Duality!
[Gymnastics] is the part of the album where I finally say the quiet part out loud: maybe I’m the problem! Rather than apologizing for my avoidant tendencies, I own them unapologetically and deliver my best backhanded apology in true melodramatic fashion. “
The duo track release trails behind recent release “Sugar Trap” from Jae’s forthcoming debut album AUDACITY - out September 25th - cementing her as one of pop's most compelling new and fearless voices. She has given listeners a dose of the upcoming music with “Attaboy!” which is about taming a self-proclaimed bad boy into the perfect plus one. Notable media outlets such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Teen VOGUE,Nylon, VIBE, One’s To Watch among others have championed the records and continue to support her dominance in the pop space. She’s made tremendous strides with her acclaimed EPs SELLOUT, SELLOUT II and TOTAL SELLOUT THE DELUXE. The SELLOUT I EP notably turned heads across the industry leading Jae to land as an opener for FLO on the US leg of their "AAA Tour" which later opened the doors to Jae’s own SELLOUT tour in October 2025 - selling out its initial three show dates in LA, NYC, and London in 24 hours. She extended the tour in 2026 making stops in a handful of additional North American cities.
Across all three SELLOUT projects, Jae’s music has been praised by the likes of Billboard, Rolling Stone, NPR, ELLE, NOTION, Wonderland Magazine, Clash Magazine, Rated R&B, and SPIN - who dubbed SELLOUT II one of the Best EPs of 2025. She’s received a handful of additional praises such as gracing the November cover of NME Magazine, Rolling Stone noting her as one of the voices in The Pop-Girl Guide To Dating, GQ highlighting her as a standout act in 2025’s Pop Counternarratives, Reddit awarding her the Popheads2025 Best New Artist Award, as well as being acknowledged as a 2025 artist to watch byConsequence of Sound and Rap-Up.
Jae recently graced the stage at Lollapalooza in Chicago and received love and rave reviews from Fader, Time Out Chicago, One’s To Watch, B96 FM Chicago, and Chicago Sun Times - who headlined their review with “Jae Stephens Deserves a Larger Stage”. She is also set to head out on tour with Grammy-nominated pop / R&B singer, Khalid on the European leg of his “It’s Always Summer Somewhere” this October. With a bevy of new music on the horizon, Jae is building a world entirely on her own terms with no signs of slowing down while taking fans along for a wild ride.
ABOUT JAE STEPHENS:
Jae Stephens is a Dallas-born, Los Angeles-raised pop artist, songwriter, producer, and creative force redefining what it means to be a modern pop star. After teaching herself to write and produce music at a young age, Stephens launched her career with her 2019 EP f**k it i’ll do it myself, earning early tastemaker attention before releasing High My Name Is and signing with Def Jam Recordings in 2023. Her SELLOUT era followed, marked by viral hit “Afterbody,” fan favorites including “Boyfriend Forever,” and tours with FLO and as a headliner of her own sold out SELLOUT tour, leading into a 2026 Lollapalooza debut. With early recognition from Billboard, Rolling Stone, NPR, ELLE, SPIN, and more, Stephens enters her boldest era yet with AUDACITY, her forthcoming debut album - a celebration of femininity, autonomy, ambition, and the unapologetic confidence to define her own world.
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