MANILA, Philippines — Singer-actor James Reid is opening up about his side of the breakup with ex-girlfriend and fellow artist Nadine Lustre in a newly released song.

The track “Hurt Me Too” is James’ first release and project under Sony Music Entertainment, a sort of partnership with his own Careless Label which he continues to manage.

The stripped-down and piano-heavy ballad produced by Tim Marquez revolves around the realities of heartbreak, with James pulling from a past relationship.

“Guess it’s never really easy letting go. They can be a lifetime trying to find to right one but overnight we can say goodbye,” goes some of the lyrics. “It was way too much and way too fast, I just needed space, and the wall they built around our love wouldn’t let us change.”

James shared in a statement that he wrote “Hurt Me Too” three years ago with Los Angeles-based artist Seth Reger, “He really helped me tap into these emotions that I didn’t even know I was feeling at that moment.”

The song marks a significant shift in James’ sonic and lyrical direction which could the next phase of his artistry, this as he is focusing on the storytelling of music-making.

“For this next album I’m working on, I wanted to focus on the core of who I am as a songwriter with minimal but intentional music production,” James added. “‘Hurt Me Too’ is like a palate cleanser for me in a way that it introduces a change in sound and direction.”

The singer-actor tapped his friend Elena Virata for the song’s music video, which incorporates a “simple but powerful” concept “focusing on unreleased emotions and frustrations.”

James and Nadine were in a relationship for nearly four years before officially announcing their split in January 2020.

Even after breaking up, Nadine remained an artist under Careless until she departed the label at the end of 2022.

Nadine is currently in a relationship with Filipino-French entrepreneur Christoph Bariou, while James is dating singer-model Issa Pressman, another Careless artist.