I loved all the different instrumentation on the album. What did you want the sound of this album to be?
During the songs with Anderson especially, he’s got his own vibe and style—but when we worked together, we did this retro ’70s thing, which he’s so good at it. We did some more uptempo songs, like “I Won’t Allow It,” and I did a lot of ballads with other people, too. I really love the ballads, like “Here for it All” and “Nothing Is Impossible.”
Photo: Ethan James Green
What was your process like in the studio? Do you have certain must-haves when you’re preparing to record?
It depends on who I’m working with, or what the song and vibe is. It’s different if it’s a bop or a ballad. It’s hard to say, like, “I needed great honey juice.” I didn’t have one specific thing.
Were you spending a lot of time on each song, or did you bang out tracks pretty quickly?
If I’m starting out and I have an idea, I’ll just go to my notes, and sing my little idea into the notes. But it’s not always like that. Sometimes, if I’m collaborating with someone—which is my favorite thing to do—I’ll vibe with them. If they’re a piano or guitar player, they’ll play, and then I’ll write some lyrics and go from there.
Did you have any other favorite collaborators on this album?
I loved working with Daniel Moore. He’s my musical director and he’s an incredible piano player. We worked on a couple of songs, like “Nothing Is Impossible.” Actually, I played that for Debbie Allen when she came to my house, and she really loved it. It was not done yet, but she’s the first person who heard it. Daniel and I also did “Here for it All,” and it’s definitely one of my favorites from this album.
Let’s chat about some of the songs. I love the opener, “Mi.” To me, that was a song about prioritizing yourself and not seeing that as a selfish thing.
It’s tongue-in-cheek. This new era is all about me—thank you, and goodnight!
I love that. I’m going to follow that for myself going forward.
Follow that era! Channel it.
That song is closely followed by “Play This Song,” which to me is about singing a goodbye to someone.