Ray Hawthorne is back with a new single, teaming up with longtime collaborator Pete Zen for “Burn New Jersey Down,” out now. The track follows on from his recent album Ray Hawthorne Isn’t Real and marks his latest release since “Overwhelmed,” continuing a run that’s kept his momentum building.
The Los Angeles based artist has built a reputation for turning personal experiences into sharp, relatable songs, and this one leans heavily into where he came from. “Burn New Jersey Down” taps into that complicated relationship with home, the kind where you never fully let go, even after leaving. Pete Zen steps out from behind the scenes on this one too, adding his own perspective to something that clearly runs deep for both of them.
Speaking on the track, Hawthorne summed it up in his usual unfiltered way, reflecting on life in LA while still feeling pulled back to New Jersey: “I’ve built a life that I love so far away from where I grew up… New Jersey is a part of me that will never go away.” Zen added that the song came together quickly because “every lyric was already baked into our DNA,” built from shared experiences growing up and eventually leaving it behind.
Hawthorne first gained attention through his solo releases like Ray Hawthorne Sucks, going on to rack up over 20 million streams with a style that blends humour, honesty, and a lot of self awareness. With “Burn New Jersey Down,” he keeps that same approach, just with a more direct look at the past that shaped him.
