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You wouldn’t believe it, the singer remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her current love, and at long last the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, her latest release, was meant as an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, broken romances, emotional abuse, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly living with the disease. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with ornate white designs, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. She is quick, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I often tease the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after eight years without an album and no new music. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘You might want to sit.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I dislike anesthesia. You’re escorted. During crises you are wheeled, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the op. “It’s terrible, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. The surgery happened recently and my one side now looks like a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The next operation is for health and appearance. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

A History of Health Challenges

Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a year.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees