- 2025-04-09
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MUSIC
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Grace Vanderwaal Releases New Album “CHILDSTAR”
American singer-songwriter Grace VanderWaal released her sophomore album “CHILDSTAR” on April 4, 2025 via PULSE Records.
This marks her first album in eight years since the 2017 debut album “Just the Beginning”.
The album comprises 9 songs, featuring a guest appearance from American rapper Aliyah's Interlude, produced by Doug Schadt, D.T.K, Eren Cannata, Jack Riley, John Samuel Gerhart, Max Margolis and POM POM.
The album is accompanied by a short film “CHILDSTAR: Final Act” co-directed by Grace VanderWaal with Luca Renzi and Jacob Boehme.
The film features five captivating performances, including “Brand New”, “Homesick”, “Behavioral Problems” and “Fade”.
The album is her personal body of work and runs the course of a birth to a death.
Grace VanderWaal said of the album, “For a long time, I felt stolen. My face, my name, my body. I wrote and created my dream album/project, 'CHILDSTAR,' as a means of processing those experiences. I am so proud of this body of work - I literally put all my tears into every word. A lot of people feel close to my story and nostalgic for my past. As much as I would like to honor that, it's cathartic for me to proclaim truth and what is mine.”- She continued, “I wanted to make a project that exercised all my passions: writing and producing, but also world building with fashion, color, and movement. Everything has been done with ultimate intention to carefully tell a story about girlhood, grief, identity, and control. I want this project to be the last time I ever speak on my past, so I figure I might as well go out with some honesty.”
She added, “When I started writing the album, I thought it was going to fuck me all the way up. I was really scared to open up these memories, because the art was going to be so raw. I realized the majority of the pain was because it was unspoken-like this weird secret I was carrying around. It feels really good to undress the past. It gave me a voice and power when I had felt incredibly powerless before. Maybe these words can give somebody else power.” - Grace VanderWaal told NYLON about the album title, “Childstar is obviously a very striking title, and that was intentional. The album does have some theatrics, which will all make sense very soon. In a real sense, it’s about being a golden child and having to be super 'mature and strong.'”
She shared on social media, “I’m honestly brought to tears. To everyone who made this possible thank you. There were many times only a year or 2 ago I thought none of this was achievable and I’m so indescribably, inspired and proud. Most of all thanks to all of you. this is such a close project to me and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I loved making it.”
Grace VanderWaal explained about some tracks for the album.
“Proud”
“Proud is the story of the 'golden child' archetype. A child who neglects their needs in order to be seen as valued, loved, or mature. As a kid, you have an undying need for validation. In some cases, you abandon yourself, and you aren't granted what you need mentally. You're choosing to be strong, only because it's your responsibility to be strong. You're adopting strength when it's not appropriate. It was important for me to use phrases like, 'Cause you're so special', because they're weaponized words to control children. Since you're young, you want to feel strong, mature, and grown up, but no kid should have to do all of those things.”
“Brand New”
“It's about me being widely sexualized and objectified at a young age. It's important to talk about all of the different layers. You wonder, 'What if I dream of being a sexy woman? What if it's that something I want? Am I still just a girl at the end of the day? Am I subjecting myself?' It's a love-hate relationship and a commentary on the patriarchy.”
“Homesick”
“For my entire childhood, I thought, 'When I have an apartment in New York City, everything will be okay.' Now, I'm grown up, and I think, 'Everything would be okay if I was just waking up at seven and waiting for the school bus again'. Nostalgia is painful. We always look back at a moment we considered to be the epitome of perfection, but was it ever real?”
“What's Left of Me”
“What's left of me is a track about feeling as though you're a breathing legacy of a fallen relationship. Everything about me is in some way either directly or indirectly caused by you. An inescapable touch, acid burned kiss, I'll never be the girl I was before. It's a robbery of identity.”
“Call It What You Want”
“'Call It What You Want' is a story between two people in denial. A romanticized justification in pursuit of avoiding the truth at all cost 'this isn't real'...There's also a sense of desperation, this is this precious thing that I must control and hide, we binge our love at night.”
“Babydoll” featuring Aliyah's Interlude
“'Babydoll' is my first feature ever and maybe my most fun song too. I had an amazing time writing and creating it and I love that it's just silly and playful. Tiffany Stringer and I had the idea to write a song from our alter egos perspective, we named mine baby doll: a bratty diva who doesn't like to be told no.” - source : Apple Music
