Lonely Hearts (song)

"Comeback" was originally set to be the only promotional single released from the album.[1] During a live stream interview with Entertainment Weekly JoJo stated that the single released version of the song would include a male feature.[2] On April 20, 2020, JoJo joined a live stream with singer Tory Lanez and the singers both confirmed they had a song in the works together. Two days later JoJo officially announced that "Comeback" would no longer serve as a promotional single from the album due to the late addition of a new feature and would be released alongside the album.[3] "Lonely Hearts" was the officially released on April 24, 2020, in lieu of the song as the only promotional song released to promote the album.[4][5] JoJo said the song "continues on the journey of self love that I’ve been on... how temptation and doubt arise... but at the end of the day how choosing self preservation over toxic relationships is the vibe right now".[3][6]

JoJo camped out at House of Balloons in Toronto with songwriters Lowell and Doc McKinney during early writing sessions for the song.[7][8] The song was written from a place of self reflection and truly being happy with being on your own.[7] JoJo states "I knew the importance of being on my own for a solid year because I had never really been single. I had jumped up from relationship to relationship and I started dating with I was 14. I knew I had to go through this uncomfortable experience of sitting with my thoughts, being lonely and getting to know myself. I wasn’t sure what my boundaries were and what was truly important to me independent of anybody else".[7] JoJo continued "I had just recycled relationships, gone back and kept doors open. I always had a comfort zone to go back to because I felt so much unpredictably in my personal life that I loved the predictability in my personal life. I realized I was doing something myself a disservice. That’s where "Lonely Hearts" came from".[7][9] The song began as a freestyle with JoJo singing it with a 90's R&B melody in mind for the song. JoJo concluded "I started thinking about how I love the idea about being able to have casual sex, but it’s never ends up being that casual. I can’t have any of these types of friends and I just need to be by myself fully. That’s where it came from".[7]

"Lonely Hearts" was written by Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Martin McKinney, Merna Bishouty, Dylan Wiggins and Joanna "JoJo" Levesque for the latter's fourth studio album Good to Know (2020).[10] It was produced by Doc McKinney, who worked alongside Dylan Wiggins on production.[10] The track was recorded with guidance by Ryan Gladieux.[10] The mixing of "Man" was done by Tony Maserati with assistance for the songs mixing engineering by Najeeb Jones and eventually, the mastering was done by Dale Becker. Merna Bishouty served as the vocal producer for the song.[10]

"Lonely Hearts" received positive reviews from contemporary music critics, with many praising its honed R&B and hip hop infused sound alongside its confessional commentary. In an article for That Grape Juice, Sam called the track "A scintillating slow jam" that "packs plenty of knock".[11] Ykigs from YouKnowIGotSoul praised the urban direction the song takes, stating "The smooth R&B record is what many have been wanting from JoJo for years and she delivers here".[7] Mike Wass of Idolator called the song a "soulful gem".[5] Madeline Roth from MTV News provided a positive review for continuing "her self-love chronicles", praising the songs content for being centered around the question that every person that struggles with codependency should ask themselves as shown in the chorus "How can I work on me, if I'm working on your body?". Roth concluded by calling the song "a soulful slow jam that shines as bright as the highlighter on her cheek in the single's artwork".[12]

In support with the America Food Fund in raising funds for the COVID-19 epidemic, JoJo performed the song live for the first time from her home.[13][14]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Good to Know (2020).[10]

Personnel