Learning to Love with Jake & Shelby

Photo by Nolan Knight

It’s February, and for many, love is on the brain. Love is also the throughline in Jake & Shelby’s debut album, Learning To Love, which traces the many forms of love, from falling in and out of it to quieter romantic moments and the work of learning how to love yourself.

Connection has also been central to the duo’s growth, which has been built through a strong online community and through their intimate live shows. Coming off a busy end to 2025 that included the release of their album, a fall tour, and the December single “Morning Light,” Jake & Shelby entered the new year in a more reflective space. I spoke with the pair about the past few months, their time on the road, and the emotional throughline that ultimately shaped the album.

Emma Zoe Polyak: Starting off, what have you been up to this year? I know the end of 2025 was busy with multiple releases and a tour; have you been continuing to build on that momentum, or have you had a chance to slow down and relax a bit?

Shelby: I think we’ve definitely slowed down some, but we’ve also been getting back into writing for new music.

Jake: We had winter storms come through recently, which kind of forced us into a nice little break, but it was fun. Like you were saying, we released the record in October and then a single in December, so it was a busy time. It’s been nice to go into the new year with all of that out and now being able to slowly get back into the swing of things.

EZP: “Morning Light” is your latest release, and it’s such a personal song. I was wondering how it feels to release something so intimate – is there fear or apprehension that comes with it, or does it feel like something’s finally off your chest?

S: Maybe all of the above. This was really new for me, sharing that part of myself at all. “Morning Light” was the first song I wrote about going through foster care and adoption, so when I posted it and when we released it, that was my first time sharing that piece of myself online. It was scary at first, but when I posted the video of me playing it, people were so kind and made me feel really seen. A lot of people said the song helped them feel seen too, and that was really comforting. It felt like a really sweet community, and I feel really good that it’s out now.

EZP: I saw a lot of people commenting that it helped them process things they’ve been through or that they related to it. Talk to me a bit more about the community you’ve built, because social media has played such a big role in your growth. Does it ever get tiring constantly creating content?

J: Yeah, we’re super thankful for the people who’ve come alongside us. It does get tiring at times – we try to post every day, and that takes a lot of time making videos and content – but it’s also really fun. It’s the best way to engage with people all over the world, and it’s kind of crazy that we have that ability. I’m really thankful for it.

S: Playing live shows and going on tour also really reminds us why we do this. Connecting with people in person, or even just going live on TikTok or Instagram and talking in real time, is really special.

EZP: I bet! What was touring like? Does playing live change the dynamics of your songs?

J: Yes, it definitely makes a difference! Playing with a full band versus just the two of us changes the type of set we play and how the show goes. With a full band, we’re able to bring a lot more energy. Usually when we do a full band setup, it’s Shelby and me with drums and bass, and Shelby is also an amazing guitar and keys player, so she fills a lot of space.

While having a full band definitely changes the energy, acoustic shows have their own plus as well because they feel really intimate. People are able to listen more closely to the lyrics, and the whole vibe is calmer and more personal. I honestly love both.

S: Playing with a band is fun too, because we get to have more people on stage with us, and also because people can dance and the energy is higher, but just the two of us feels really sweet too. I love them both equally.

EZP: Do you have a favorite song to play with the full band?

S: “Shut Up and Kiss Me” is one of my favorites. I also really love “Stuck on Your Love.” On tour, we had a long solo section where Jake and Cam, our bass player, would trade solos, which was really fun.

J: “Stuck on Your Love” is probably my favorite to play as well, because we got to expand the song live. I also love playing “Loophole” with the band. There’s a bridge at the end that’s a total vibe change, and it’s really fun to play live.

EZP: Were there any standout moments on tour, either from meeting fans or things that happened on the road?

J: One of my favorites was in LA, when our friend Aiden Kroll came up on stage with us. We traded solos on “Stuck on Your Love,” and we also played one of his songs, which was coming out the following week, so the timing worked perfectly. It was really fun because we don’t usually have guests on stage, so it was fun to get to share the stage with someone and try something new.

S: I think another one that was really fun was in Atlanta. That was probably our smallest show on the tour, so we were able to sit on the edge of the stage for an acoustic section. We always have an acoustic moment in our shows, but we didn’t use mics or anything, and got to sit on the edge of the stage, and that was a really great moment, being able to see everyone’s faces.

J: Another obvious favorite is getting to meet everyone on tour. Honestly, meeting people after the show is always our favorite part. We do so much on social media and interact with people so much online, but we don’t always get to meet people and see them face-to-face, so when we do, that’s always fulfilling and encourages us to keep going.

EZP: You mentioned collaborating with friends while on tour – who are some dream artists you’d love to collaborate with?

S: I would love to do a song with Lizzy McAlpine or Tiny Habits – their harmonies are so pretty. John Mayer would be cool. My main [artist] would be Taylor Swift, that would be the coolest.

J: I like your answers. Shelby also got me into Gracie Abrams, and I love her music so that would be fun. There’s an artist I really love who’s a great singer-songwriter and guitar player named Joey Landreth and I think hearing him and Shelby sing together would be really cool.

Photo by Nolan Knight

EZP: Since your album is all about love and it’s near Valentine’s Day right now, what are some of your favorite love songs?

S: I love “Like Real People Do” by Hozier, we just posted a cover of that song. “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran is also a pretty classic love song.

J: I also really love Olivia Dean’s songs; they’re not always direct love songs but I really enjoy them. Alexander23’s latest record called Aftershock also has some great songs that I love.

EZP: One of my favorite songs on your album is “Falling Out of Love,” the closing and title track. Can you talk about writing that song and how the album came together overall?

S: “Falling Out of Love” was written a little differently. I wrote that song by myself a few years before we even decided to make an album. But picking the songs for the album was a little spontaneous, because there were a few songs like “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” “Loophole,” and “You Don’t Know” that we specifically wrote for the album, but most of them were just songs that we had written throughout our time as a duo. But I think in the end, when we were picking all of the songs that we wanted to be on there, we realized that a lot of them had a theme and a story of all of the stages of love.

“Falling Out of Love” was a song that I wrote when I felt like someone was falling out of love with me, but looking back, I think I wasn’t loving myself very well at the time. That realization really inspired the album title, and a lot of the songs ended up sharing that same story.

EZP: I love that. I think there’s so much focus on romantic love in music, so it’s really meaningful to see love represented in different forms – self-love, platonic love, all of it.

J: Thank you. That was definitely intentional. When we write songs, we never want to feel like we have to write about one specific topic. We’re pretty free with where the songs go, and we like that.

EZP: You mentioned that “Falling Out of Love” was written solo, what does collaboration usually look like for your other songs?

S: It’s different every time. We don’t really have set rules. Jake has a ton of guitar ideas – his phone is full of voice memos – and a lot of times those inspire songs. I’ll start singing melodies over them and then we’ll add lyrics. Other times I’ll bring in something simple on guitar.

J: Yeah, Shelby usually leads lyrically, but it’ll flip-flop depending on the song.

Learning to Love Album Cover