Danish-Swedish vocalist, saxophonist, and songwriter Johanna Linnea Jakobsson returns with Don’t Overthink It, her second full-length release and a clear step into new creative territory. Following the success of her 2022 debut Alone Together—praised across Europe and named one of Japan’s Jazz Hihyo “Best Vocal Albums of the Year”—Jakobsson moves beyond jazz standards to focus entirely on original material that blurs the boundaries between jazz, folk, and pop songwriting.

Set for release on 31 October, the album finds Jakobsson exploring themes of self-doubt, adulthood, and emotional honesty with a mixture of vulnerability and playfulness. Produced by drummer John Fernold, her long-time collaborator and creative partner, Don’t Overthink It showcases Jakobsson’s distinctive voice—both literally and as a songwriter—through melodies that balance sophistication and warmth.

Influenced by Norah Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Jeff Buckley, and The Beatles, the record captures the sound of an artist embracing simplicity without losing depth. Jakobsson describes it as “everything at once”—a collection of songs that move easily between introspection and joy, guided by curiosity, humour, and heart.

We spoke with Johanna about the freedom of writing her own songs, the art of balancing vulnerability and lightness, and how Don’t Overthink It became both a personal mantra and a musical turning point.

Your new album, Don’t Overthink It, marks a shift towards original songwriting. What inspired this move away from standards and into entirely your own material?

A big part of the process of me figuring out what sort of music I wanted to make was actually making my debut album. The four original songs from that record where the ones that ended up feeling most genuine to me, and it also seems like those were the ones that resonated most with the audience. After that first album process I sort of felt like I had cracked the code to my own songwriting and that there was so much left to explore.

There’s an interesting contrast between the album title and the themes you explore, feeling lost, indecisive, or inadequate. How did that irony shape the tone and message of the record?

Well, I wanted a title that did the same thing to the lyrical themes as the music does – being kind of light and positive as a contrast to the words. I find it extremely difficult to decide on these sort of things, and I think we had even started releasing some of the first singles before I settled on a title. I just remember brainstorming it late one evening in the kitchen with my boyfriend John (who is also producing and playing drums on the album), knowing that I had to pick a name soon, and it kind of just popped into my head. Pretty quickly I was like “okay, this one feels right so I’ll better try to do what those specific words are telling me and just make a decision”

Your debut Alone Together combined jazz standards and original compositions, while this new record blurs the lines between jazz, folk, and pop. How do you see your relationship with genre evolving?

I think I’ve gotten more comfortable with just writing songs that I like, and then we’ll figure out the label afterwards – that is if there even has to be one. I’m very happy to have arrived at a place where I feel like I’m free to explore the type of songwriting that feels natural to me without having to worry about whether the compositions fit into a certain box. I also love all the possibilities that comes with applying elements from jazz in the arrangement of a simple and pretty straightforward pop-song, but it’s becoming more and more about what’s best for the song and less about trying to convey a certain style.

You worked again with drummer and producer John Fernold, who also produced your previous soundtrack work. What makes this collaboration special, and how did it influence the sound of Don’t Overthink It?

So, as mentioned earlier John is both my partner in life outside of the music as well as my most important creative collaborator. We’ve worked together on a lot of different musical projects so we’ve gotten to know each other very well in that aspect event though it’s definitely been a challenge to figure out how to be in a professional relationship with the person you share the rest of your life with as well. Overall, I think it just works so well because we have the same goal for where we want this project to go artistically We both feel like our music benefit from the others ideas, and appreciate that we end up in musical places we wouldn’t have done on our own. He once described it as me being the visionary and him being the craftsman, which I think is a good way to put it, even though – to be fair – I think he has contributed with so much more than “just” the craftmanship.

The songs reflect on navigating adulthood, dreams, worries, and the unknown. How did personal experiences find their way into the songwriting process?

When I write a song I usually don’t know what I’m going to write about when I start the process, I just kind of jam on a melody and some chords and let words out without thinking too much about it. However, those words will often be a reflection of what is going on inside, even though I might not be very aware of it at the time, and I’ll often end up building on those phrases – sort of like I’m figuring out what the song is about on the go, rather than knowing what I want to express from the start. And all of those themes definitely were a big part of my life during the writing process of this album.

You’ve mentioned that the album feels both deep and playful at the same time. How do you balance vulnerability and lightness in your music?

I’ve always liked working with contrasts in music. For me it’s hard to write a song with sad lyrics that also has a super sad melody, it doesn’t really work for me. I also feel like a lot of the music that moves me the most often plays around with those mixed feelings. Come to think of it, I think it has actually become more of a writing style than something I consciously decide to work around, both in terms of music and lyrics.

You cite influences ranging from Norah Jones and Ella Fitzgerald to Jeff Buckley and The Beatles. How do these artists shape your sound, and what elements of their work resonate most with you?

So first of all, Ella is the best singing teacher I’ve ever had. I’ve learnt so much from listening to her and whenever I’m learning a new jazz standard I always try to find her recordings of it. I’ve also been obsessed with Jeff Buckley’s vocals, specifically his phrasing, since I was a teenager, and his songwriting was obviously phenomenal. He’s a great example of an artist that blends different influences into this perfect personal sound. Norah Jones has been my go to reference when I’ve been in doubt about how to navigate my love for different genres – I just listen to her and then it all seems so simple, and the same goes for The Beatles. I grew up with their music and listening to it always brings me right back down to what it’s all about. Being genuine and curious when you write, just doing your best to make the songs shine as bright as possible.

When you were writing these songs, did you find yourself leaning more on intuition or structure? How did you know when a piece was “finished”?

This is a part of the process where I don’t know what I would do if I did not have John to work with. One of the greatest luxuries with having a producer on this record has definitely been that I haven’t had to decide on my own whether something was finished or not. If I’ve felt stuck or uncertain where to go next with a new song, I’ve asked him to have a go at it, and then we finish it together eventually. It’s also a big part of the process to try out the music with my band. They have a lot of great inputs on arrangement and form for instance, so the process of finishing a song is not always a very clear one – I also feel like the songs evolve over time now that were out and playing the music live, but on this records I would say it’s overall been very much of a team effort.

The title Don’t Overthink It suggests a kind of creative mantra. Has that phrase changed how you approach music or perhaps even how you approach life?

Well, not yet I would say, but I’m trying! I’ll probably always be a bit of an overthinker but maybe releasing the record will manifest something new in me – there’s always hoping.

Now that the album is about to be released, what do you hope listeners will take from it, emotionally or personally, when they hear these songs for the first time?

Hmm, that’s a difficult one actually. Well, I guess I mostly just hope that people will be able to connect with the music in a way that makes sense to them. The songs on the album are very “me-centered” but my goal is definitely not that people just think about me and all of my feelings when they listen to it, but that the music makes them feel something that means something to them. Such a cliché but nevertheless that’s what I want.