Slayyyter is in this in-between phase of her career: Sometimes people don’t have a clue who she is, but other times fans are begging for a picture.
“It’s a funny place to be,” she tells Rolling Stone with a laugh. “I’m still myself, but I get to dip my toe into this very bizarre culture of Hollywood.”
Her experience of being a rising pop star and living amidst the craziness of Hollywood serves as the inspiration for her album Starfucker, out Sept. 22, which she announced on Thursday.
“The music sums up my life in the past couple of years living in LA and being an artist on the cusp,” she says. “I’m not so famous, but I’m also not who I used to be — a hair salon receptionist. I’m either starfucking, or I’m getting starfucked by people.” (Reader’s note: this interview was done well before Olivia Rodrigo sang about fame fuckers.)
She adds: “I’m not talking about sex necessarily, but more the way you’re treated or the way I treat people. There’s an element of celebrity in my life, where I’m seeing people I used to idolize but also people treating me like I’m something special. Girl, I’m just Cathy from the neighborhood!”
The songs on the upcoming album are inspired by Hollywood and fame and serve as a “satirical comment” on herself and the people surrounding her. The music, she says, is darker than some of her past work as she uses some “broody synths” and was inspired by some post-punk, goth records from the Eighties, like Boy Harsher.
“I just think it’s like the greatest album ever of all time, but like, maybe I’m biased,” she says with a cackle. “But I really think it’s good. It’s the only thing I’m listening to right now, personally, and I hope that other people love it as much as I do.”
Starfucker is her follow-up to Troubled Paradise, which she dropped in 2021, and featured songs like “Self Destruct” and “Clouds.” Slayyyter says she’s “grown up a little” since then, and the album reflects her life in L.A. today, after having made much of Trouble Paradise from lockdown.
Before this new album, “I was really immersing myself in party culture — sometimes a little too much,” she says. “But it really informed the sound and the danciness of it all. This album feels more on the pulse of my life for me.”
After dropping “Out of Time” in early June and touring with Tove Lo, Slayyyter will offer a new taste of the music to come with “Miss Belladonna,” out Friday.
“It’s one of my favorite songs from my album and definitely my most vocally ambitious. I’m singing operatic notes in some parts, the entire song is super maximalist-sounding dark pop,” she said in a statement about the track. “It’s a bit of a dramatized piece about an overly indulgent femme fatale.”
“I feel like the album comes from this character’s point of view, the entire song feels like a big moment and sonic shift for me as an artist,” she added. “She starts drama, she’s a bit of a bitch. She’s using men to her advantage. She’s the ultimate starfucker.”
From Rolling Stone US
