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You couldn’t make it up, the singer says. There she was preparing for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was talking to press about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was preparing for an performance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She considered the operation terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer sucks, man, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my right breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The follow-up procedure is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

Cornish is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to make her recall not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees