Joss Stone has some thoughts. About world peace, the healing power of gut bacteria, and why the first lyric that pops in your head might be the best one. Also: fecal transplants. Let’s not bury the lede.
The British soul singer joined Kyle Meredith With… to talk about her single “Walk With Me,” which started as a romantic stroll down the aisle and morphed into a kumbaya anthem for a planet on the verge of collapse. “The world was going tits up,” Stone said cheerily, “so I thought, let’s write about that.”
Originally penned by longtime collaborator Jonathan Shorten, “Walk With Me” took a left turn when Joss got her hands on it. “He said, ‘It’s a love song, really romantic,’ and I went, ‘Cool, I’m gonna rewrite it.’” The lyrics now pitch unity through disagreement, a noble idea in theory but, as Stone concedes, “I don’t know if we’ve got a handle on that yet—but it’s a good suggestion.”
Of course, Shorten’s foray into lyricism didn’t survive Stone’s “in the moment” style. “I’m slapdash,” she admitted. “First thought, best thought. It drives my co-writers nuts.”
Not everyone gets that luxury. When she once wrote songs with Mick Jagger for the SuperHeavy project (yes, the one with Damian Marley and A.R. Rahman), she learned that not everyone is content with verse one. “Mick would write seventeen versions of the same line. I was like, ‘Oh... is that what we’re supposed to do?’”
Her preference? Collaboration. Whether it’s cooking for the band while they lay down tracks (as she did for the Mama Earth sessions) or opening up her music for public remixing (“I just put the stems out and said, go wild”), Stone is happiest when she's not hoarding the spotlight. “Music brings people together,” she said. “That’s the whole point.”
Her new record leans into a more “songy” direction—Stone’s own word for classic, grown-up material. “I sang with Burt Bacharach in London. I had to learn all his songs. Those aren’t grooves, they’re songs. It made me want to make something more dramatic, more adult.”
But if you think that means she’s abandoned her wild musical spirit, think again. Stone still dreams of putting out a collection of collaborations from her ambitious Total World Tour—yes, she played every country. “204 countries. I’d learn one of their songs, in their language. Mongolian throat singing? I tried. I failed. But I tried.”
And then there’s the podcast, A Cup of Happy, a misnamed endeavor if you think it’s just warm fuzzies and motivational quotes. “Happiness is controversial,” she said. “If you tell people they’ve got a choice, they don’t want to hear it. People hate that.” She relishes the science of it, quoting doctors, nutritionists, and authors. “Fiber makes you happier. And fecal transplants,” she added, with the casual glee of someone announcing a surprise party. “If your friend’s depressed and they give you their poo, you’ll be depressed. So yeah—shove it up your ass. That’s two times now in this interview, I’ve said that.”
Stone's mission is clear: bring joy, however it happens. Through a gospel choir on a one-off single, a podcast about microbiomes, or a song you can’t understand in a language you don’t speak but feel in your gut. Literally.
Whether she’s singing on stage, blending musical cultures in far-flung countries, or evangelizing for gut flora, she’s still just trying to make you feel something. Preferably better.
“I think the job is happiness giver,” she said, without irony. “And you don’t need to do gigs to do that. Sometimes you just make someone a cup of tea.”
Watch the interview above and then check out Walk With Me below.
