Leon Bridges on his new album and collaboration with John Mayer

It was a quick comment from John Mayer on Leon Bridges's 2019 livestream that sparked the collaborative relationship between the musicians that led to When A Man Cries — the opening track on Bridges's new album, Leon.

"I was doing this session with some homies at this little Airbnb," Bridges tells Q's Tom Power in a new interview. "And I went on Instagram Live while we were jamming. And John Mayer was like, 'Where you all at? Imma pull up.' I'm like, no way.… He came through with his rig and guitar and we jammed for hours."

Their song Inside Friend was made then. A song that, when released a year later, resonated with audiences during the lockdowns for its themes of intimacy and connection in isolation.

But their collaboration didn't stop there. "John Mayer invited me to his studio and that's when we kind of started to work on When A Man Cries," says Bridges, "and I put it on the back burner. And when I was shaping this album, I was like, 'No, this needs to be the opening track.'"

The song explores the intersection of Black identity and masculinity, reflecting on the challenges Black men face in expressing their emotions. "We don't have a space to really express our emotions, out of fear of being deemed as weak. And with this song, I wanted to show there's bravery in that vulnerability. The tears falling just kind of represents letting go."

Paying tribute to his roots

In 2015, Leon Bridges's debut single, Coming Home, catapulted him into the spotlight, and in the span of weeks, he went from working as a dishwasher to performing on SNL. Receiving so much attention so fast was quite the shock for the shy and introverted singer. "That's something I've always kind of struggled with, being in the limelight and kind of having a microscope on everything you do. And, you know, there's times where I desire to just go back to that simpler life of just washing dishes. But I think I've gotten pretty good at navigating through all of this, like being a super introvert."

Bridges's fourth album, Leon, is all about going home. It's a bit of a love letter to his home of Fort Worth, Texas. "It's cool to be deemed as the hometown hero but still people there still respect my space and privacy."

Multiple songs on the album are about his hometown, and despite his success, the artist says he "never really had a desire to live anywhere else." In Fort Worth, Bridges says he can still be himself, away from the spotlight. "I love that I can still hit some of those old stomping grounds, you know, just for the nostalgia. All that stuff kind of gives me a peace of mind."

While the 1960s feel of his first song contributed to his success, Bridges is careful not to fall under the category of "throwback" artist. "It's easy for people to perceive that as contrived, you know? And I don't know how getting those labels of 'throwback' and 'ranchera' right out the gate kind of inspired me to just incorporate more modern sounds while still keeping the foundation soulful and, I think, me kind of reinventing myself with each album has helped."

The full interview with Leon Bridges is available on our YouTube channel and on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Leon Bridges produced by Cora Nijhawan.