Nick Jonas' new song 'Chains' describes how he felt trapped in the Jonas Brothers.

The 21-year-old singer and his brothers Kevin, 26, and Joe, 24, disbanded their squeaky clean band last year and with his new solo single, Nick details his unhappiness at how they were perceived but friends now say he no longer ''gives a s**t'' what people think of him.

A source told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: '''Chains' is a metaphor for what he has been feeling all these years.

''He feels free now for the first time in his life. He's making music he believes in. He's done saying sorry for everything and trying to be perfect. He's just going to be himself; if people like him, great, if not, he's done giving a s**t.''

The steamy video for the song features Sean Penn's daughter Dylan and will be a departure from the Jonas Brothers.

Friends of Nick have also claimed he found the Jonas Brothers a ''burden'' and now finally ''feels free''.

The pal said: ''Nick has spent years experiencing a burden that's hard to explain. He's not blaming anyone for it; it's just what fame does to people, especially at a young age.

''Different people respond in different ways - some do drugs and act out, but his response was to conform to what he thought people wanted him to be. Remember, he was a 13 year-old kid when he became famous. For example: He thought that when he slept in a hotel room on tour, people would talk s**t about him if he didn't make his own bed. So he made it.''