(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOCKET THEME")
MADISON BEER: (Vocalizing).
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
When Madison Beer was last on tour, she developed an unusual hobby, at least for a pop musician in her 20s.
BEER: I went to a lot of antique stores every day. That was kind of my favorite thing to do, is going into them and just kind of treasure hunting.
MCCAMMON: She started buying up lockets.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOCKET THEME")
BEER: (Singing) I know you can picture it, all our memories safe in my locket, I carry it.
I would say my favorite locket is a vintage locket that I put photos of my cats inside of.
MCCAMMON: How many cats do you have?
BEER: I have two.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOCKET THEME")
BEER: (Singing) If you don't hear from me, it don't mean I...
MCCAMMON: A locket is a piece of jewelry. It's meant to be beautiful, meant to be seen. But inside, it holds keepsakes, personal items not meant to be seen unless you decide to show them to someone. So maybe it's no surprise that Madison Beer is calling her new album "Locket."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOCKET THEME")
BEER: (Singing) Everything that I could ever need is within me.
MCCAMMON: Madison Beer has long been public about much more than her two cats. When she was just a young teen, Justin Bieber shared a YouTube video of her singing. It kickstarted her career and also the long, difficult chain of events that involved the leak of a nude video as a minor, cyberbullying and blackmail, revelations of child sexual abuse and mental health struggles as documented in two previous albums and a memoir.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMPLEXITY")
BEER: (Singing) All of my fine complexities. The baggage that I turned into beauty.
MCCAMMON: She's now 26, and when I spoke with Beer, I asked her about how she now balances being open with her fans with guarding her privacy.
BEER: I think a lot of my career kind of almost - it feels hypocritical of what I value in my normal day-to-day life. Like, I really value privacy, my alone time, you know, whatever, things like that. And then it feels like, obviously, in some sort of career like I'm pursuing now, it's, like, the opposite. You know, it feels like everything is out there. And there's a lot that I'm really happy to share because I hope that there's somebody out there who can, you know, hear what I've been through and potentially, you know, know that they can get through it as well. But it can be difficult, and I think honestly maybe my personality type isn't really meant to do what I do. But I think I try to balance it as best that I can. And yeah, and I like speaking about my experiences because like I said, it just is in hopes that somebody out there can relate and feel less alone.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMPLEXITY")
BEER: (Singing) How can I expect you to want me when you want nothing for yourself?
MCCAMMON: On this new album, if there's any theme I feel like I'm hearing consistently, it's probably looking back on relationships you've left behind or tried to leave behind. And I'm thinking in particular about "Healthy Habit," which I think was sort of an ironic title, isn't it?
BEER: Yes, it is, very much so.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEALTHY HABIT")
BEER: (Singing) It's not a lack of options. I just get bored. And I don't see a problem, pretending I'm yours. It's not a healthy habit, I could spare a few, like smoking in the kitchen and romanticizing you.
I love that song. I'm glad that you're mentioning it because it's really representative of what I was going through in the sense of, you know, breaking up with this person, knowing that it's for the better, but then suddenly, I'm sitting around romanticizing, oh, maybe they weren't that bad, and maybe we should get back together, and maybe it was my fault, and that's something that I do to myself a lot.
So I think that those are topics that I enjoy writing about because, again, I feel like as someone who goes through those things, I don't hear that specifically talked about all the time. And so I wanted to make songs for the people out there who, you know, unfortunately don't know when to walk away and, you know, might have some attachment issues like me and whatnot. And I wanted this to make people feel seen and also, like, not make them feel bad about certain things because I feel like it's easy to make yourself feel like, oh, I'm so - you know, why am I not stronger? Why do I keep going back to this person? And this song was really just, like, I think a lot of us have been there, and I definitely have.
MCCAMMON: Yeah, I think it's pretty almost universal experience.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEALTHY HABIT")
BEER: (Singing) And I wonder if it's worth doing it again. And I wonder if, and I wonder if, and I wonder if it's worth doing it again.
MCCAMMON: There's one song on this album called "Angel Wings," which is about letting go, moving on. Can you tell me more about how that song came about?
BEER: That song was a really fun one because I actually had a fan pick the title for it. We had this sort of rough, vague concept where it was, like, you know, in the most dramatic way, how can I get over someone? And it's like, oh, well, I'll just pretend that you're dead.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ANGEL WINGS")
BEER: (Singing) Dead to me. How else do I answer when they check on me? Thought that you and I might've had everything. It's easier pretending you have angel wings.
And that was my approach to the song. And then I couldn't really think of a title, and I couldn't really think of how to round the concept out. So I honestly just went on Twitter, and I was like, does anyone have any cool title ideas just to kind of spark inspiration? And this girl Hunter (ph) said angel wings, and I was like, oh, that's a great title. And it's really just talking about how, you know, when people ask me how you're doing, I'll just say, oh, it's a tragedy and all these things about them not being here anymore 'cause that's the only way I can cope with not being with them.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ANGEL WINGS")
BEER: (Singing) I used to wish, oh, how ignorance was bliss, that one day, I'd be happier than this.
MCCAMMON: Is there a song on this new album that maybe carries a message or a lesson that, if you could go back, you would want 12-year-old Madison Beer to know?
BEER: Yeah, there's definitely a ton. I think that, you know, when I get asked, like, if I would change anything about my past, I say no just because I am proud of where I am today. But I would have hoped she would have been protected a bit more. I feel like, you know, now meeting kids who are 12, I really realize how young that truly is. And sometimes, I guess, my heart kind of breaks for all the things that I was exposed to and the situations I was put in at such a young age. And I think the only thing I would say is I wish that I was a bit more protected.
MCCAMMON: Madison Beer's new album is called "Locket." Thanks so much for talking with us.
BEER: Thank you so much. It was nice talking to you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOCKET")
BEER: (Singing) I'm afraid of getting better. I'm afraid it gets too good 'cause it can't last forever even though I wish it could. The higher you rise, the further that you fall. And soon, you're left with nothing at all. Soon you're left with nothing, nothing, nothing at all, nothing at all, nothing, nothing, nothing at all, nothing at all, nothing at all, nothing... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
