Let's talk about your debut album. How are you feeling now that Nymph is finally coming out?
I'm ready just to get a bigger project out. After ALIAS, a lot of people had opinions about my work, and it just naturally helped me build a fanbase that is supportive of me and invested in the music that I'm making. But I'm still actively discovering what I can do and what I want. And I think this album was a continuation of that exploration. I wanted to be a bit more vulnerable, and also to set a certain comfortability in what I have to offer. That's why there's a bit more subtlety to the music, and to the messaging and the songs, just because I'm happy with what I'm doing. And I don't really feel the need to be super brash, or to be the loudest person in the room, because I just feel like the music speaks for itself, in a sense, and I'm really proud of what I've been able to make with the people I've been collaborating with. I just want the music to last, you know? I want to make stuff that lasts the test of time, and doesn't just feel momentary, but can speak for the moment that we're living in, but also, beyond this time period. I want to be able to look back and still be happy with it… and I feel like I'm on the path of doing that with this record.
I feel like, with such a good response to ALIAS, you could have turned around and put out an album right away. But you took your time with it, and, as you're saying, sort of figured out who you were sonically and what you wanted to say along the way. So, what was your process like?
It's a call and response between me and the audience. So, I think how people were treating me, and how my life changed through the course of accepting being a musician as a career path, that definitely did affect what I was doing back in the studio, because I was continuing conversations with my audience, and also with myself. There was so much strength in a lot of the tracks I was making with ALIAS, and there was this growing idea of me as this like, strong, powerful woman. But also, I felt like a big part of that story is the times where I've been the most vulnerable and sensitive, and maybe I'd left that out a little bit in the music. So, I really wanted to make space for that in the album, and give a bit more humanity to who I am as an artist. You know, the character of Shygirl is not two-dimensional — there’s depth there.
When you went into the studio, did you have an idea of how you wanted to show that?
I just knew I wanted something slightly different for myself. I really enjoyed the music on ALIAS, but I wanted more room. And there were times when I wasn't so happy, or even sad on stage, but I didn't feel like I had the songs to express it… so, I was like, “I need the song to do that. That really made me be like, I'm gonna get that for myself, and I'm gonna make sure I have the tools to be myself onstage, and to be authentic constantly, and not feel like I'm putting it on.” I think that's why the tone of the album probably isn't what people would have expected after ALIAS, but I wanted to expand the limit of what I'm capable of. I don't want to just give people what they expect.