The reggae star draws sunlit optimism and gratitude from our age of uncertainty. “Creativity is so intangible,” Kelissa tells Apple Music. “Sometimes you can’t really put into words where this inspiration comes from. You just receive it and you become a channel, you know?” On THE GOOD SIDE OF THINGS, the 2026 follow-up to her vibrant 2017 debut Spellbound, the Jamaican singer-songwriter serves as both conduit and filter for the widespread apprehension so endemic of the time period: inhaling global anxiety, exhaling breezy, gold-hued reggae with a soulful, jazzy sheen. “What you are experiencing as an artist is often reflective of what other people are going through,” she says. “I think, by nature, artists are also, in a way, empaths. I would say part of the job of being an artist is to be able to embody what others are going through so that you can translate those feelings into your art form.” Songs like “All My Days” (“Life’s so dangerous for those who want to be free/I don’t wanna fight, I’m just trying to be me”)—and “Uneasy”—a gradual bloom of piano and percussion that asks, “When mankind come with them evil means/Which side will you choose now?”—give those feelings voice but, crucially, not power. Instead, the existential themes provide impetus to adopt a more optimistic outlook, where resilience and faith are treated almost as interchangeable concepts. A sense of gratitude permeates every track, reminding the listener to tally their blessings before their sorrows. For Kelissa, that count includes her husband Jamar McNaughton—aka Chronixx, the acclaimed reggae star and sometime member of UK soul collective Sault—who co-wrote and produced a number of tracks on the album. “This project is just as much Jamar’s as it is mine…it wouldn’t sound the same without his input,” she says. “I’m blessed to be in a space where I can share that with somebody who’s equally passionate about music and passionate about the message and passionate about the finished product. We created something really great. I’m so proud of it.” Read on for Kelissa’s track-by-track guide to THE GOOD SIDE OF THINGS. “Cut & Clear” “‘Cut & Clear’ is really inspired by the farming practice of cutting and clearing the land before you begin a new crop. For me, it was a symbolic way of clearing the previous sonic space that I was in to make way for the new music that I was offering to the world. It’s really just to set the tone for what’s to come.” “Skyline Rocking” “[This song] is an ode to my childhood home. It was my way of expressing a deep connection to the place that I grew up. The roots of my identity. And also, I would say, the pull of Jamaica, no matter where you are in the world. Skyline is such a special place, it’s where I created the majority of this project. And it’s kind of like a midpoint between the city life and living in the hills, in the mountainside in Jamaica. Skyline really embodies the balance of living in both worlds.” “Jah Ɔdɔ (Jah Love)” “I spent a lot of time living and traveling in Africa—Ghana being one of those places—and of course my roots are in Jamaica. Culturally and historically, our connections go so deep, and in both places the people really embody the spirit of resilience. ‘Jah Ɔdɔ (Jah Love)’ is a combination of Twi, which is an Akan language spoken in West Africa, and Jamaican Patois. A lot of the metaphors in these languages are similar, so it was a way for me to bring forth that same message of resilience and faith.” “Way You Make Me Feel” “I think that ‘Way You Make Me Feel’ is one of those songs that helps everybody to reconnect with that loving feeling inside of them, especially in a world where sometimes it can be seen as cheesy or weak in a way. I think it’s so powerful to stand in love and represent for love.” “All My Days” “Gratitude is a practice that really carries me through every single day. Life is short. In the moment we don’t realize it, but in the blink of an eye we’re elders looking back at our lives, and I really try to think about looking back with gratitude and without regrets. There are moments where you want to feel discouraged and you want to feel bogged down by the demands of life. Sometimes, you just cannot get over feeling like you don’t have control over certain things. The world tries to snatch your freedom and it’s not always easy to be in a space of gratitude. So with this song I’m projecting myself as an elder and thinking about the life that I’m living and honoring the moment.” “I Don’t Even Know” “Faith looks different for everyone but I would say it is such an important aspect of survival. Uncertainty is like the biggest surety of life—like, one thing we’re sure of is uncertainty. You know that you just don’t know how things are going to play out or what the day will bring and it keeps you on your toes. So even when things feel like they’re going haywire, or they’re not following the plan, if you can always lean into faith, you somehow find peace within that uncertainty.” “Trying” “This song was actually written by my mother—word for word, these are her lyrics—and produced by my father in 1996, exactly 30 years ago. It’s a song I have always returned to throughout my life. The message has resonated with me since I was a child and even though I didn’t physically put the pen to the paper, it feels like it’s my song. My mother sings harmonies with me on this version and a lot of the arrangements are similar too. There are lines from the instrumentation that are the same because, for me, it’s almost the identity of the song—like, you can’t have that song without having that musical line. But we did try to make it unique as well. I just thought it would be really powerful to be able to cover my parents’ music. They have so much beautiful music and this is really just like the tip of the iceberg.” “Uneasy” “This is where the title of the album comes from. It’s such an uneasy time and there’s this unspoken heaviness that I think we all feel but nobody really wants to say it. This song is about helping people to realize you’re not the only one that’s experiencing the heaviness, and whatever you’re going through, if you can focus on the good side of things, it really sets you on the path of living a happy life. In our culture we always say, ‘Jah over evil, good over evil,’ and that’s our way of being positive and reminding ourselves that the presence of God is in everything.” “Earthquake & Thunder” “This song speaks to a woman’s experience of owning her power and being able to recognize when a relationship is toxic and being able to step outside of that and say, ‘This is not for me,’ and I’ve taken it and made it about my culture. Women take up a lot of space in Jamaica and the song is supposed to represent all sides of the Jamaican woman. You can’t mess with her. In many ways women are so powerful that men can be intimidated by our power and our presence and our ability to stand our ground. And I think that’s what this song is an expression of: a woman who is just owning her power and being like, ‘You know what, I’m actually not dealing with this. I’m stepping away from it. There’s no ill will, there’s no ill feeling. Just, this is where I stand and I’m setting a boundary.’” “Call Me” “This song is an expression of what’s important in life. We have our to-do lists and our goals and things we’re trying to achieve, but the most important things in our lives need to be given attention and intention as well. We go through life chasing these dreams, but when we’re at the end of our lives reflecting on the journey, I think the most important things are going to be the relationships we’ve been able to curate with our loved ones. That’s really what makes us human. So that’s what this song is about—just to say, you know, call me when you think about me.”