By Kristen Hawley | 14 December, 2022
Jordan Michelle (real name is Michelle Medoff) is a rock, alternative artist who brings her powerhouse, punk energy, and lyrically edge with each of her songs. Her most recent single, “Harley Quinn” came out right before Halloween is the perfect embodiment of the iconic comic book character’s intensity and rage. Taking influence from alternative trailblazers like Gwen Stefani and Green Day, you can feel her resistance and search for herself boiling in each of her tracks. Her powerful vocal range works beautifully over the intense, angst feel of rock drums and bass, but in her latest collaboration with Million Miler, showcases a softer side on this synthy dance track.
“Neon Lights” is a collaboration track between Jordan and Million Miler. Million Miler is the name that Plain White T’s lead singer, Tom Higgenson, releases his solo music under. ”Neon Lights” was released on November 14th and it’s the perfect blend of Million Miler's classic synth-pop sound and Jordan’s incredible vocals for a fun and energetic night club anthem.
How did a rock princess get paired up with an 80's inspired popstar?
Well, they had a mutual connection. Jordan’s boyfriend, Rick, had done a video for the Plain White T’s in Chicago and had introduced the two. Instantly clicking, they wrote “Neon Lights” while hanging out at Tom’s house. Interestingly enough, at the time that the pair collaborated, Jordan didn’t have a song out on Spotify. She had hundreds ready to go on her computer, but nothing for fans to listen to yet. Of course she was beyond excited to collaborate with Tom since she grew up listening to his songs with the Plain White T’s. Switching from fan to artist relationship to an artist to artist collaboration was made easy with Jordan’s talent and Tom’s humility.
Jordan was heavily involved throughout song creation. Writing “Neon Lights” alongside Million Miler she also played chords to help craft how the song would sound sonically. While Jordan is an emo kid at heart, she doesn’t box herself into just creating music within that space. She is a massive fan of other genres of music and allows herself to flow to whichever sound she wants to explore for the track she is creating. Her flexibility and the duo not going into the “Neon Lights” session with a limited mindset of “this is going to be a Million Miler track, so it needs to sound a specific way” allowed them to create a song that came together organically and flowed well with the theme of the lyrics.
Look out for more collaborations and experimentations with different genres because Jordan loves working with other artists and is a fan of all kinds of music. While she’s a punk rocker at heart, she’s open to trying new sounds and styles - whatever will suit the theme, lyrics, and vibe of the song she’s recording.
Jordan glows when she discusses the chemistry and love that she has while working with Million Miler. The duo did work on a few more songs together which will (hopefully) be released soon. Especially since Jordan teased this collab record would be a pop punk sounding track with more bite to it.
“Neon Lights” is out now on Spotify and Apple Music!
And stay up-to-date with everything Jordan Michelle’s working via her Instagram, website, YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify!
