Eight years after her last album, Grace VanderWaal is storming back with an unapologetic and personal sophomore set, “CHILDSTAR,” out today via PULSE Records. The nine-track project is painfully poetic and raw, a daring artistic reinvention from the former joke act America’s Got Talent winner, an unvarnished journal of identity, survival, and self-regaining.
With a runtime of under twenty-five minutes, “CHILDSTAR” unfolds like a cinematic confession, echoing the dramatic trajectory of life itself, from cradle to grave. Along with it, a short film, “CHILDSTAR” Final Act, co-directed by VanderWaal with Luca Renzi and Jacob Boehme, features gorgeous live performances of highlights such as “Brand New,” “Homesick,” “Behavioral Problems,” and “Fade.”
As a lyricist, VanderWaal does not pull punches on “CHILDSTAR.” Through soul-baring lyrics and genre-bending production by Doug Schadt, D.T.K, Eren Cannata, Jack Riley, John Samuel Gerhart, Max Margolis, and POM POM, she pulls back the curtain on fame, femininity, and forgotten childhoods.
In “Proud,” she beautifully examines that golden child trauma with haunting candor. You’re choosing to be strong, only because it’s your responsibility. It is a slow-burn anthem of childhood stolen in the name of applause. “Brand New,” on the other hand, dares to grapple with the sexualization that she endured under the glare of a fearsome commentary on the gray areas between being a child and being old enough to know better.
Her debut feature, “Babydoll”, with rapper Aliyah’s Interlude, flips the script. It injects levity and swagger with alter-ego flair and reveals her multidimensionality as an artist poised to rattle the cage. With “CHILDSTAR,” Grace VanderWaal is redefining herself. She is no longer just a child prodigy but a formidable, fully realized storyteller, taking her name, voice, and power.
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