Joy Crookes, a London-born Irish-Bangladeshi soul singer, has released a new single called Painkiller, inspired by an abusive relationship that almost destroyed her. In the song, she reflects on why she allowed someone abusive to be loved by her. Crookes wrote the single in 2022, shortly after ending the relationship with someone she described as "a genuinely nasty person." She reflected on the experience, saying, "I looked like a shell by the end of it... it completely ruined me, for a bit. But I’m good now." Crookes gained mainstream attention around 2021 with the single Feet Don't Fail Me Now from her Mercury Prize-shortlisted debut album, Skin. The track is a sharp, witty critique of empty online activism and explores the compulsion to stay silent out of fear of public backlash. In 2023, she had a busy summer that included her debut at the Montreux Jazz Festival and work on her upcoming third album. She expressed a sense of mourning for the whirlwind few months she had, saying, "I really doused myself in the fun and didn’t overthink too much. I felt very playful, and connected to my friends, and spent all this time listening to music, going to gigs, just doing simple things that my heart enjoys." Crookes was raised in Elephant and Castle with her three siblings by a Bangladeshi mother and Irish father. Her music is a melting pot of influences, including Pakistani songs, US rap, and Jamaican reggae. She has been credited with spearheading an ongoing UK soul revival alongside artists like RAYE and Olivia Dean. However, her career has been stop-and-start, affected by the pandemic, which occurred just after a Jools Holland performance, a spot on the BBC Sound of 2020 poll, and a Brit Awards Rising Star nomination. A gig supporting Harry Styles on tour also fell through when live music was shuttered by lockdowns. Her second album, Juniper, released last year, was described as bolder, darker, and more vulnerable than its predecessor. It was influenced by a toxic relationship and a mental health crisis she suffered in 2022. On the track Mathematics, featuring grime star Kano, she sings, "All that’s left is your T-shirt/ You’re a bruise and it still hurts." The torch song Forever includes lyrics, "Heartbreak consistent like British weather/ But I don’t let you go." Crookes expressed feelings of shame after the relationship ended, noting that many people in abusive relationships feel a massive amount of guilt. She found solace in hedonism, getting tattoos at house parties and getting plastered in Wagamamas. She emphasized the importance of healing, stating, "Honestly I could cry at how happy I feel, at how much healing has been done. It feels incredible." Making the video for Painkiller was described as a cathartic experience. The video features Matt Whipps, who plays her bad boy love interest, and was cast after the producer, Danny Herman, spotted him working in a coffee shop in Chicago. Crookes wanted the video to show her character playing her own part in the relationship's toxicity rather than blaming the boyfriend. She criticized the over-simplification of relationships through therapy-speak, suggesting that modern dating terminology doesn't always cut it when people have their own histories and traumas. Crookes is working on her third album with her close friend and collaborator Harvey Grant. They start the day playing billiards at their local in Deptford or rummaging around The Shop, a store that sells everything from old Nokia phones to state-of-the-art synthesisers. She described the album process as a whole different ball game, comparing it to being a kid again, with the studio feeling like a playground. She is not being shunted off to LA to sit in studios with strangers while she spills her guts, and instead, she is treating the studio like a place of worship, keeping it sacred. Her third album includes a "pansexual anthem" called Chop Chop Honey, which she debuted at Montreux, about an imaginary world where "you can shag anywhere," with music influenced by her Bangladeshi heritage. Another song was inspired by a viral comment about the proliferation of white blokes with podcasts, with TikTok users urging them to "go back to the garage and play guitar." She explained that the song is also about the fact that you can unravel to people you don’t know. Crookes frequently finds herself chatting to strangers around Deptford, in the cafe at her gym, in smoking areas at clubs. She believes that even if there isn't a god, there's an energy that can make two people be in the same place at the same time. Her father introduced her to Catholicism, but he always told her it was about understanding her heritage. She is having a personal reckoning lately, at a time when more and more young people are identifying as spiritual. She believes that the way technology and social media are, it's like we're reaching for something else because we're f***ing sick of it. She emphasized that magic exists in both her Irish and Bangladeshi cultures, including folklore, myths, and fairytales. She believes that accepting that we can't know everything makes us better people.