Toronto’s Joël kicked off 2019 with his singles “Vent” and “Type,” and he’s back with a new offering titled “Everything’s Cool.”

Joël wrote the song to address coping with difficult situations, and that it’s ok to not be okay all the time:

“You know when you say it’s cool, but it’s not really cool? That’s what this ting is…coping with something you know you’re not okay with, staying in a relationship when the bad outweighs the good, smiling with a stranger when they walk by but inside you just wanna cry or punch a wall. I wrote this song in LA, reminiscing on shit that doesn’t really matter anymore.

I went on thinking about my parents’ relationship and the amount of people that go through shit behind closed doors on a day to day basis, but when you see them everything’s cool. I used to hide the pain and sweep my problems under the rug, but not anymore. As cliche as this sounds it’s ok not to be okay…everyone goes through shit, it’s how you get out of it what matters. We’re in it together.”

Listen to “Everything’s Cool” here: