Francesca Fuentes Channels Heartache Into a New Era

April 13, 2025

Francesca Fuentes Channels Heartache Into a New Era

Francesca Fuentes, known to fans as Chess, has always converted life's experiences into music. Her songs mixes pop-rock with strong emotions, so that the music comes across like an open personal diary—organic, loving, and accessible. Raised on the Jersey coast, Francesca began writing songs and playing guitar at age 12, and then found her creative community at Monmouth University. Her debut video "Rock With Me" not only garnered attention but took home Best Film at the 2019 Lovesick Film Festival, demonstrating early on her ability to spin a good tale using both vision and sound.

But like all the greatest artist narratives, the path wasn't always easy. A difficult split from her previous producer in 2021 had left her with an incomplete first album and a painful feeling of loss. But then she got this new fresh motivation, she wanted to create again. With the help of her mentor Mike Flannery and her inspirations like Taylor Swift, she set out to create her own sound.

Her newest single, “I Just Wanna Be Your Lover Again,” represents that reinvention. Dreamy vocals, slick grooves, nailing the balance between longing and empowerment. With lyrics that address the residual ghosts of loves gone by, Francesca sings each line with a captivating tenderness that's impossible to look away from. There's an underlying quiet desperation, but she commands every note with passion.

The video goes one step further, combining cinematic narrative with visual nods to pop icons of the decades gone by. Styled in signature looks from Priscilla Presley to Mariah Carey, Francesca moves between nostalgia and the present. Directed by her long-term boyfriend Kris Khunachak, the video is as detailed as her lyrics. It features hints of her upcoming album and fashion-conscious choices such as getting her hair cut on set to achieve the perfect look. “I Just Wanna Be Your Lover Again” is a declaration that Francesca Fuentes is back, more confident, and more in tune with her artistic self than ever before.