Upon the debut of her sophomore album, SOS, SZA checked in with Audacy and V103 Atlanta’s Big Tigger. Fans are overjoyed as it's been five long years since her first album, Ctrl.

Big Tigger asked where the idea to title the album SOS came from, concerned because "S.O.S" is typically used in times of distress but SZA assured that it in part came from a friendly nickname, “Sos,” being short for Solána. She then goes on to break down her stage name and that “Sza is an acronym derived from the supreme alphabet,” with the ‘S’ meaning ‘self-savior.’

“You know it stands for 'save our souls,' 'save our ship,' that kind of thing, so it's like, yeah we all need a little bit of saving, and sometimes that person is you who has to do that,” she told Tigger.

She also opened up about how she oftentimes has to save herself from her own mind: “Harsh criticism of myself, judgment of oneself,” she answered when asked what she needs saving from.

While SZA feels her inner voice can be very exhausting, music helps her overcome the exhaustion. “Expressing it in music is helpful," she says. "It helps kill like some of the overdrive of that dialogue and like puts it in a healthy check.”

Fans can look forward to some surprises as she admits that she is stepping into new territory with this project. “There's a song where I’m just straight rapping,” she said, “there's a pop rock song… I always wanted to make that.” While her inner voice has her terrified about the release she is also excited for fans to hear these new sides of her. And you might want to start saving your coins: “The tour is finna be wild, I’m taking the creative farther than I’ve ever taken it before,” she said -- and if this album is as monumental and life-changing as Ctrl was, you’re not going to want to miss her tour.

Keep SZA on your radar because she’s in her, “change the world era.” She’s getting into acting, directing, conservation of the planet, dropping makeup, and investing in skin care -- all while heavily focused on growing and becoming the best version of herself.

“I’m going to be the person I wanted to see in the world when I was like 16.”

Don't miss the full interview with Big Tigger and SZA above, and stay tuned for even more conversations with your favorite artists on Audacy.com/Live.

Words by Yasmeen Akbar + Joe Cingrana Interview by Big Tigger

Upon the debut of her sophomore album, SOS, SZA checked in with Audacy and V103 Atlanta’s Big Tigger. Fans are overjoyed as it's been five long years since her first album, Ctrl.
Big Tigger asked where the idea to title the album SOS came from, concerned because "S.O.S" is typically used in times of distress but SZA assured that it in part came from a friendly nickname, “Sos,” being short for Solána. She then goes on to break down her stage name and that “Sza is an acronym derived from the supreme alphabet,” with the ‘S’ meaning ‘self-savior.’
“You know it stands for 'save our souls,' 'save our ship,' that kind of thing, so it's like, yeah we all need a little bit of saving, and sometimes that person is you who has to do that,” she told Tigger.
She also opened up about how she oftentimes has to save herself from her own mind: “Harsh criticism of myself, judgment of oneself,” she answered when asked what she needs saving from.
While SZA feels her inner voice can be very exhausting, music helps her overcome the exhaustion. “Expressing it in music is helpful," she says. "It helps kill like some of the overdrive of that dialogue and like puts it in a healthy check.”
Fans can look forward to some surprises as she admits that she is stepping into new territory with this project. “There's a song where I’m just straight rapping,” she said, “there's a pop rock song… I always wanted to make that.” While her inner voice has her terrified about the release she is also excited for fans to hear these new sides of her. And you might want to start saving your coins: “The tour is finna be wild, I’m taking the creative farther than I’ve ever taken it before,” she said -- and if this album is as monumental and life-changing as Ctrl was, you’re not going to want to miss her tour.
Keep SZA on your radar because she’s in her, “change the world era.” She’s getting into acting, directing, conservation of the planet, dropping makeup, and investing in skin care -- all while heavily focused on growing and becoming the best version of herself.
“I’m going to be the person I wanted to see in the world when I was like 16.”
Don't miss the full interview with Big Tigger and SZA above, and stay tuned for even more conversations with your favorite artists on <a href="https://www.audacy.com/live">Audacy.com/Live</a>.
Words by Yasmeen Akbar + Joe Cingrana Interview by Big Tigger

Listen as our favorite artists Check In for candid conversations about music and more.

Listen as our favorite artists Check In for candid conversations about music and more.

Audacy Check-In

SZA | Audacy Check In | 12.9.22

She’s an icon, she’s a legend, she is Kylie Minogue, and she checked in with Audacy’s Mike Adam at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York to chat all about her new album, Tension II, her upcoming TENSION Tour, and more.

From putting together her setlist to touring North America again, while gaining new fans, and reflecting on the days of cassettes and CDs -- Kylie covers it all.

Starting off expressing her excitement to be touring in North America after “too, too, too long,” Kylie admitted that putting together the setlist for, as Mike put it, “a show of this magnitude,” currently “lives rent free” in her head.

“Obviously it’s the TENSION Tour, so we're going to have songs from 'Tension' and 'Tension II,' even 'Disco,' my previous album I didn't get to tour,” Kylie noted. "But," she added with a smile, “we’re going to serve you ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head,’ and ‘All The Lovers,’ and even take you back to ‘Locomotion.’”

Pointing out how Kylie’s influence spans generations, Mike mentioned how “it's gotta be mind-blowing,” to have songs on the setlist like ‘Locomotion’ that have “the eighties babies dancing,” but also have a song like ‘Padam Padam’ that has their kids’ heart rates rising, Mike asks Kylie if she expects her shows to be a family affair.

“I'm so glad that you've recognized that,” Kylie responded, adding, how “because that’s been… such a buzz. That the OGs fans that have been around… they’re having a blast. And then the newer fans, new people who come to the Kylie party… I know they've been introduced, a lot of them with ‘Padam Padam’ or 'Tension,' whatever -- but they lose their minds over ‘Locomotion,’ which is just brilliant. So it means I can encompass the scope of my career, which is over five decades.”

When asked if there is a key to longevity in this crazy business, Kylie expressed, “There's a few things that definitely count,” listing them off, “persistence, tenacity, passion, luck.”

Noting he’s nostalgic about the long-ago days of cassettes and CDs, “when you would find the secret song at the end when you would just let the final track play.” Mike asked Kylie if there was anything she missed about the industry, from when she was first getting into it.

“Just the thrill of, you had to make the effort, go to the shop… that was like your kind of own private Idaho is to have put that record on, "Or, have to argue with your brother and sister, like, ‘what are we playing?’, Kylie answered. Also noting that “until I got a Walkman… You didn't have music on the move. So, I guess I can be nostalgic about all of that, but cut to now and it's great to go, ‘What do I want to listen to? What's new?' So much has changed.”

Talking about the changes she’s seen for women in the industry since her start, Kylie expressed, “It’s very encouraging that I'm proof, I'm sat here,” but also acknowledged, “Now we bring up the age topic, but I think it's at least with a positive spin on it.” She goes on to reveal, “It wasn't that many years ago that I felt I was in quite awkward positions where people would question me to my face in an interview,” and basically ask her “When are you too old to be a woman in this business?” And to that, Kylie said, “firstly — rude, but secondly — I don't know.”

She continued, “I guess I've always had women in the industry that I've looked up to, I didn't really think about their age at the time. I'm 8, 9, 10, obsessing over Olivia Newton-John and Donna Summer, And then as an older teenager, you know, Whitney [Houston], Madonna, Cindy [Lauper], all of them, I guess there wasn't such an age gap between my teenage years and their years. But I don't know what happened where it was suddenly deemed distasteful or, I don't know. But thankfully it is becoming, certainly for the younger generation… they’ve just got new minds, and open minds,” when it comes to “ageism, and particularly in music.”

Fun fact — Kylie also revealed which chart-topping song was almost hers, but ended up going to another artist. Sharing, “Yeah, there’s a little song called ‘Toxic’ that was headed my way, and I was like ‘Toxic’? I don't know if I want a song called ‘Toxic’… As it's turned out, it was meant to be a Britney Spears song, I can't imagine it being anything else."

Before concluding their conversation, Mike asked Kylie, if she were to put together her own charity -- “We Are The World”-type track -- today, which artists she would enlist. “It might be a girl group because I'm giving the girls a lot of spins,” Kylie revealed. “I mean, I do really have a penchant for Indie bands, I definitely love some Yacht Rock just on in the background, but I wouldn't mind being with Chappell [Roan], Sabrina [Carpenter], Lana [Del Rey], Miley [Cyrus]… and Madonna.” Adding, that if she could broaden the number of members, she’d also add, Rihanna, and Beyoncé.

To catch it all, check out Kylie’s entire interview above.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Mike Adam

She’s an icon, she’s a legend, she is Kylie Minogue, and she checked in with Audacy’s Mike Adam at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York to chat all about her new album, Tension II, her upcoming TENSION Tour, and more.
From putting together her setlist to touring North America again, while gaining new fans, and reflecting on the days of cassettes and CDs -- Kylie covers it all.
Starting off expressing her excitement to be touring in North America after “too, too, too long,” Kylie admitted that putting together the setlist for, as Mike put it, “a show of this magnitude,” currently “lives rent free” in her head.
“Obviously it’s the TENSION Tour, so we're going to have songs from 'Tension' and 'Tension II,' even 'Disco,' my previous album I didn't get to tour,” Kylie noted. "But," she added with a smile, “we’re going to serve you ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head,’ and ‘All The Lovers,’ and even take you back to ‘Locomotion.’”
Pointing out how Kylie’s influence spans generations, Mike mentioned how “it's gotta be mind-blowing,” to have songs on the setlist like ‘Locomotion’ that have “the eighties babies dancing,” but also have a song like ‘Padam Padam’ that has their kids’ heart rates rising, Mike asks Kylie if she expects her shows to be a family affair.
“I'm so glad that you've recognized that,” Kylie responded, adding, how “because that’s been… such a buzz. That the OGs fans that have been around… they’re having a blast. And then the newer fans, new people who come to the Kylie party… I know they've been introduced, a lot of them with ‘Padam Padam’ or 'Tension,' whatever -- but they lose their minds over ‘Locomotion,’ which is just brilliant. So it means I can encompass the scope of my career, which is over five decades.”
When asked if there is a key to longevity in this crazy business, Kylie expressed, “There's a few things that definitely count,” listing them off, “persistence, tenacity, passion, luck.”
Noting he’s nostalgic about the long-ago days of cassettes and CDs, “when you would find the secret song at the end when you would just let the final track play.” Mike asked Kylie if there was anything she missed about the industry, from when she was first getting into it.
“Just the thrill of, you had to make the effort, go to the shop… that was like your kind of own private Idaho is to have put that record on, "Or, have to argue with your brother and sister, like, ‘what are we playing?’, Kylie answered. Also noting that “until I got a Walkman… You didn't have music on the move. So, I guess I can be nostalgic about all of that, but cut to now and it's great to go, ‘What do I want to listen to? What's new?' So much has changed.”
Talking about the changes she’s seen for women in the industry since her start, Kylie expressed, “It’s very encouraging that I'm proof, I'm sat here,” but also acknowledged, “Now we bring up the age topic, but I think it's at least with a positive spin on it.” She goes on to reveal, “It wasn't that many years ago that I felt I was in quite awkward positions where people would question me to my face in an interview,” and basically ask her “When are you too old to be a woman in this business?” And to that, Kylie said, “firstly — rude, but secondly — I don't know.”
She continued, “I guess I've always had women in the industry that I've looked up to, I didn't really think about their age at the time. I'm 8, 9, 10, obsessing over Olivia Newton-John and Donna Summer, And then as an older teenager, you know, Whitney [Houston], Madonna, Cindy [Lauper], all of them, I guess there wasn't such an age gap between my teenage years and their years. But I don't know what happened where it was suddenly deemed distasteful or, I don't know. But thankfully it is becoming, certainly for the younger generation… they’ve just got new minds, and open minds,” when it comes to “ageism, and particularly in music.”
Fun fact — Kylie also revealed which chart-topping song was almost hers, but ended up going to another artist. Sharing, “Yeah, there’s a little song called ‘Toxic’ that was headed my way, and I was like ‘Toxic’? I don't know if I want a song called ‘Toxic’… As it's turned out, it was meant to be a Britney Spears song, I can't imagine it being anything else."
Before concluding their conversation, Mike asked Kylie, if she were to put together her own charity -- “We Are The World”-type track -- today, which artists she would enlist. “It might be a girl group because I'm giving the girls a lot of spins,” Kylie revealed. “I mean, I do really have a penchant for Indie bands, I definitely love some Yacht Rock just on in the background, but I wouldn't mind being with Chappell [Roan], Sabrina [Carpenter], Lana [Del Rey], Miley [Cyrus]… and Madonna.” Adding, that if she could broaden the number of members, she’d also add, Rihanna, and Beyoncé.
To catch it all, check out Kylie’s entire interview above.
Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Mike Adam

Kylie Minogue | Audacy Check In | 10.21.24

It’s been eight years since Grace VanderWaal was the bashful 12-year-old girl who wowed and won America’s Got Talent with her ukulele playing and textured, breathy vocals. Now 20 and all grown up, Grace is back with brand new music and a scandalous Megalopolis role, and she’s checking in with Audacy’s Bru to chat about it all.

Despite some admitted “ups and downs” throughout 2024 thus far, Grace told Bru she currently feels “like I have some strong footing right now, I feel very confident in what we're brewing up.”

Newly signed to Pulse Records, Grace shared a bit of insight into some of the changes this year brought, that had her feeling those “ups and downs.”

Starting off with a positive, Grace admitted the decision to sign with Pulse has been “the best thing that ever happened to me.” Going on to note, “There were so many things that happened that was like so destined and just me writing ‘What's Left of Me,’ and then Columbia dropping me, and got rid of everyone around me,” which she admitted, “wasn't planned.”

“I was already getting rid of everyone around me,” she continued, “and then I got that call and they were like, ‘oh you can't have any of the music that you've made in this long time.’” Which Grace revealed was around “40 songs.”

Feeling determined to rise above, Grace decided, “I’m going to f***ing write an album, I'm going to write an album and I'm going to do this right… the way that I knew it always should be.”

Comparing the way things went down to a bad relationship that you’re being gaslit about, Grace expressed, “I feel like every single day for the past six months, at least once a day, I'm like, ‘I f***ing knew it was real. I knew it was real, and I'm doing it right now, and I knew that people could work like that.'”

Feeling invigorated in this new chapter, Grace confessed, “I was so afraid of change for a really, really long time because I've been doing this for so long,” so much so that the people she surrounded herself with evolved to feel more like family, “like I've known you since I was like 12 years old.”

“So you can feel so trapped and stuck… but I knew that a change needed to happen because things weren't really working. Also my personal life was weirdly exactly mirroring this as well," Grace added, “like the similar parallel of things are going wrong because I can't let go of things and staying in places for the mere fact of staying there, but not for any other benefits.”

Deciding to “pull the trigger,” and make a change, “five great things happened,” and she realized, “good things are happening when I do that,” and she understood it was time to let go.

Delving into those exciting things she’s got brewing, which includes that album she mentioned, and intended to do right, Grace expressed, “it turned out better than I could have ever imagined.” Adding, “It ended up being way more of this conceptual thing,” and “way bigger than I was expecting.”

Noting she didn’t want to give too much away, Grace did offer that, “From there… I started tweaking it more, and being like, okay, let me lean into what's naturally happening here because this is really like abstract and cool.” Additionally revealing the project should be expected in early 2025.

In the meantime, Grace has other exciting things going on, which includes plans to release “acoustic versions of the singles,” as well as her role as Vesta Sweetwater, "a virginal pop star who gets snagged in a deep-fake sex scandal,” in Francis Ford Coppola’s film Megalopolis, which Grace also wrote a song for.

Grace talked a bit about the experience of working with such formidable titans of industry, admitting that while it was “intimidating at times,” it was a “kind environment," and everyone was “very nice and funny.” Also sharing about how writing “Pledge” was quite different that when she’d contributed to the soundtracks of Disney movies she been in in the past.

Discussing her album a bit more, Grace described the new sound it will bring, saying, “I feel like it's very rich in writing. So I wanted to produce the songs around the writing, so some of them are more abstract in that way,” she added, bringing up Frank Ocean’s production style as example of what she loves. "I would say that that's one I can listen to and I genuinely feel like he wrote it first and then put emphasis from the words with music. But then some of them are more funzy, whatever. So I would say an equal balance of that. Some are more artistic and weird, and then some… you can sing in the car.”

Expanding more about her songwriting process, Grace shared, “I'm obsessed with the Mellotron, I basically write everything on it like I always have.” So her songwriting “normally starts there and then words and then… you just take it from there.”

To wrap up the conversation Grace discussed how she wants to read more, how she’s “basically like a reinvented person weekly," plus a few other random topics you won't want to miss. To catch it all, check out the entire Check In above.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Bru

It’s been eight years since Grace VanderWaal was the bashful 12-year-old girl who wowed and won America’s Got Talent with her ukulele playing and textured, breathy vocals. Now 20 and all grown up, Grace is back with brand new music and a scandalous Megalopolis role, and she’s checking in with Audacy’s Bru to chat about it all.
Despite some admitted “ups and downs” throughout 2024 thus far, Grace told Bru she currently feels “like I have some strong footing right now, I feel very confident in what we're brewing up.”
Newly signed to Pulse Records, Grace shared a bit of insight into some of the changes this year brought, that had her feeling those “ups and downs.”
Starting off with a positive, Grace admitted the decision to sign with Pulse has been “the best thing that ever happened to me.” Going on to note, “There were so many things that happened that was like so destined and just me writing ‘What's Left of Me,’ and then Columbia dropping me, and got rid of everyone around me,” which she admitted, “wasn't planned.”
“I was already getting rid of everyone around me,” she continued, “and then I got that call and they were like, ‘oh you can't have any of the music that you've made in this long time.’” Which Grace revealed was around “40 songs.”
Feeling determined to rise above, Grace decided, “I’m going to f***ing write an album, I'm going to write an album and I'm going to do this right… the way that I knew it always should be.”
Comparing the way things went down to a bad relationship that you’re being gaslit about, Grace expressed, “I feel like every single day for the past six months, at least once a day, I'm like, ‘I f***ing knew it was real. I knew it was real, and I'm doing it right now, and I knew that people could work like that.'”
Feeling invigorated in this new chapter, Grace confessed, “I was so afraid of change for a really, really long time because I've been doing this for so long,” so much so that the people she surrounded herself with evolved to feel more like family, “like I've known you since I was like 12 years old.”
“So you can feel so trapped and stuck… but I knew that a change needed to happen because things weren't really working. Also my personal life was weirdly exactly mirroring this as well," Grace added, “like the similar parallel of things are going wrong because I can't let go of things and staying in places for the mere fact of staying there, but not for any other benefits.”
Deciding to “pull the trigger,” and make a change, “five great things happened,” and she realized, “good things are happening when I do that,” and she understood it was time to let go.
Delving into those exciting things she’s got brewing, which includes that album she mentioned, and intended to do right, Grace expressed, “it turned out better than I could have ever imagined.” Adding, “It ended up being way more of this conceptual thing,” and “way bigger than I was expecting.”
Noting she didn’t want to give too much away, Grace did offer that, “From there… I started tweaking it more, and being like, okay, let me lean into what's naturally happening here because this is really like abstract and cool.” Additionally revealing the project should be expected in early 2025.
In the meantime, Grace has other exciting things going on, which includes plans to release “acoustic versions of the singles,” as well as her role as Vesta Sweetwater, "a virginal pop star who gets snagged in a deep-fake sex scandal,” in Francis Ford Coppola’s film Megalopolis, which Grace also wrote a song for.
Grace talked a bit about the experience of working with such formidable titans of industry, admitting that while it was “intimidating at times,” it was a “kind environment," and everyone was “very nice and funny.” Also sharing about how writing “Pledge” was quite different that when she’d contributed to the soundtracks of Disney movies she been in in the past.
Discussing her album a bit more, Grace described the new sound it will bring, saying, “I feel like it's very rich in writing. So I wanted to produce the songs around the writing, so some of them are more abstract in that way,” she added, bringing up Frank Ocean’s production style as example of what she loves. "I would say that that's one I can listen to and I genuinely feel like he wrote it first and then put emphasis from the words with music. But then some of them are more funzy, whatever. So I would say an equal balance of that. Some are more artistic and weird, and then some… you can sing in the car.”
Expanding more about her songwriting process, Grace shared, “I'm obsessed with the Mellotron, I basically write everything on it like I always have.” So her songwriting “normally starts there and then words and then… you just take it from there.”
To wrap up the conversation Grace discussed how she wants to read more, how she’s “basically like a reinvented person weekly," plus a few other random topics you won't want to miss. To catch it all, check out the entire Check In above.
Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Bru

Grace VanderWaal | Audacy Check In | 10.15.24

Joining Bru for an Audacy Check In, Gwen Stefani is here to fill us in on her forthcoming album Bouquet. From finding the right sound, to feeling inspired by the “group of amazing songwriters” she worked with, the “spiritual” recording process, and more.

Following Bru wishing Gwen a happy belated birthday, (it's October 3), Stefani shared some deets about this year’s memorable celebration, after feeling a bit lonely during her birthday last year.

“A year ago… I had a show in Hawaii on my birthday and I was like, oh, yeah, I'll go get a little pile of money and come home and I don't care about my birthday.” However, as Gwen revealed, “I went on my own and I, like, spiraled into this like place. I was like, everybody needs to have a birthday I think like a celebration.”

That being said, something good came out of it. “I ended up writing this song called ‘Swallow My Tears,’ which is on the new record,” Gwen offered. “But this birthday, I was like, OK, no, we got to do something,” she continued, sharing all about the Colorado trip her hubby Blake Shelton took her family on.

With Gwen’s upcoming fifth studio album, Bouquet, set to drop on November 15, the singer shared her current emotional state about everything as a whole, saying, “I feel so grateful… it was one of those like… all I can do is look back at all of the whole career and be like, wow, how did that happen?”

After 2020, Gwen felt the want to start writing again, but also felt that she had so many things going on. “I'm a mom… I felt guilty to even go to the studio and try to write music because a lot of times you go and nothing happens,” Gwen shared. “But I started working on it and I think I went down like a lot of like, weird cul-de-sacs musically, because I didn't really know what I wanted to be or who I was. I was trying to chase the old me like, okay, I want to do reggae or I'm gonna do this, and nothing was landing.”

After a few failed attempts, and less than stellar reviews when she’d play the material for people, Gwen came to the realization that, “it really just comes down to, you have to like it,  you as the person doing it.”

“I wanted to always be real and truthful and honest and I just had to find that real honest place.” Noting it also has a lot to do with “the people that I actually end up writing the songs with, like finding the right chemistry, the right everything to make it all come together.”

“Once I wrote ‘Purple Irises’… that was like, finally, okay, I landed in the spot, and then the record kind of happened pretty quick after that.”

Discussing the sound she landed on for the album, Gwen said, “I knew I wanted to make something that I wanted to listen to. The older I get, the more I go back to the songs that I grew up with as a kid. Which I think we kind of call it yacht-rock now, but at that time it was just the popular soft rock music, like anything from Steely Dan, The Eagles, Carly Simon, James Taylor. There was like a lot of singer-songwriters back then… there was no computers, it was just music, organic. So I really wanted to do something in that kind of world.” Going on to recall that after writing and demoing the songs, despite how out of her comfort zone it might have been, the next step was to “rerecord the whole thing with a live band in that style.”

“So we ended up going back and I got to work with this producer called Scott Hendrix, who’s actually a Country producer, which I knew through Blake,” and had just recently retired. “I wasn’t able to work with them until that happened,” adding, “so it just all lined up exactly.”

“Four days after he retired we were in the studio and we cut all the songs with live music," Gwen continued, expressing how “amazing” and “spiritual” the process was. “That’s what the record is… A bouquet of all these songs that are a collection… edited down to me kind of right now, and what I've been going through, healing, to get to this point in my life.”

Gwen also went on to chat about getting to work on her duet with Blake, what direction she thinks her music would have taken if she didn’t grow up in Orange County, and that Coachella performance with Olivia Rodrigo. Also discussing feeling inspired by her songwriting process with a “group of amazing songwriters,” two of which were “young girls that were like ‘oh my God, my mom used to listen to you’, it was just so inspiring for me, you know, to be with, to see these girls and try to think back to what I was at that age and like they were.”

The conversation continued from there, with Gwen listing off and expanding on some of the amazing collaborators she worked with, getting a star on the Walk of Fame, being a coach on The Voice, and so much more. To catch it all, check out the entire Audacy Check In above.

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Bru

Joining Bru for an Audacy Check In, Gwen Stefani is here to fill us in on her forthcoming album Bouquet. From finding the right sound, to feeling inspired by the “group of amazing songwriters” she worked with, the “spiritual” recording process, and more.
Following Bru wishing Gwen a happy belated birthday, (it's October 3), Stefani shared some deets about this year’s memorable celebration, after feeling a bit lonely during her birthday last year.
“A year ago… I had a show in Hawaii on my birthday and I was like, oh, yeah, I'll go get a little pile of money and come home and I don't care about my birthday.” However, as Gwen revealed, “I went on my own and I, like, spiraled into this like place. I was like, everybody needs to have a birthday I think like a celebration.”
That being said, something good came out of it. “I ended up writing this song called ‘Swallow My Tears,’ which is on the new record,” Gwen offered. “But this birthday, I was like, OK, no, we got to do something,” she continued, sharing all about the Colorado trip her hubby Blake Shelton took her family on.
With Gwen’s upcoming fifth studio album, Bouquet, set to drop on November 15, the singer shared her current emotional state about everything as a whole, saying, “I feel so grateful… it was one of those like… all I can do is look back at all of the whole career and be like, wow, how did that happen?”
After 2020, Gwen felt the want to start writing again, but also felt that she had so many things going on. “I'm a mom… I felt guilty to even go to the studio and try to write music because a lot of times you go and nothing happens,” Gwen shared. “But I started working on it and I think I went down like a lot of like, weird cul-de-sacs musically, because I didn't really know what I wanted to be or who I was. I was trying to chase the old me like, okay, I want to do reggae or I'm gonna do this, and nothing was landing.”
After a few failed attempts, and less than stellar reviews when she’d play the material for people, Gwen came to the realization that, “it really just comes down to, you have to like it,  you as the person doing it.”
“I wanted to always be real and truthful and honest and I just had to find that real honest place.” Noting it also has a lot to do with “the people that I actually end up writing the songs with, like finding the right chemistry, the right everything to make it all come together.”
“Once I wrote ‘Purple Irises’… that was like, finally, okay, I landed in the spot, and then the record kind of happened pretty quick after that.”
Discussing the sound she landed on for the album, Gwen said, “I knew I wanted to make something that I wanted to listen to. The older I get, the more I go back to the songs that I grew up with as a kid. Which I think we kind of call it yacht-rock now, but at that time it was just the popular soft rock music, like anything from Steely Dan, The Eagles, Carly Simon, James Taylor. There was like a lot of singer-songwriters back then… there was no computers, it was just music, organic. So I really wanted to do something in that kind of world.” Going on to recall that after writing and demoing the songs, despite how out of her comfort zone it might have been, the next step was to “rerecord the whole thing with a live band in that style.”
“So we ended up going back and I got to work with this producer called Scott Hendrix, who’s actually a Country producer, which I knew through Blake,” and had just recently retired. “I wasn’t able to work with them until that happened,” adding, “so it just all lined up exactly.”
“Four days after he retired we were in the studio and we cut all the songs with live music," Gwen continued, expressing how “amazing” and “spiritual” the process was. “That’s what the record is… A bouquet of all these songs that are a collection… edited down to me kind of right now, and what I've been going through, healing, to get to this point in my life.”
Gwen also went on to chat about getting to work on her duet with Blake, what direction she thinks her music would have taken if she didn’t grow up in Orange County, and that Coachella performance with Olivia Rodrigo. Also discussing feeling inspired by her songwriting process with a “group of amazing songwriters,” two of which were “young girls that were like ‘oh my God, my mom used to listen to you’, it was just so inspiring for me, you know, to be with, to see these girls and try to think back to what I was at that age and like they were.”
The conversation continued from there, with Gwen listing off and expanding on some of the amazing collaborators she worked with, getting a star on the Walk of Fame, being a coach on The Voice, and so much more. To catch it all, check out the entire Audacy Check In above.
Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Bru

SZA | Audacy Check In | 12.9.22

In 1 playlist(s)

Audacy Check-In

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips