Kiiara is opening a new chapter in her musical journey where she’s finding time to reflect and explore a new perspective in her roots, while also focusing on growth and experimentation. 2023 has seen the American singer-songwriter drop the re-introductory singles “Hangover”, “Cum In Peace” and the newly released “Speed”, which strips it all back to strong songwriting and vulnerable stories. Highlighting similarities to the songwriting on her breakout EP “low kii savage”, she also acknowledges the big growth she’s had an artist that sees her honing a whole new confidence. 

Kiiara’s career to date has been impressive to say the least. Her breakout single “Gold” in 2015 changed her life forever with “Whippin”, “Feels”, “Messy” and her Linkin Park collaboration “Heavy” keeping the momentum growing as she won over a legion of fans globally with her honesty storytelling. 

Reflecting on the journey that has led her to where she’s today, I sat down with Kiiara to discuss the experimental production of “Speed, The boldness of “Cum In Peace”, and the re-introduction “Hangover” ushered in. Check out the full chat BELOW;

THOMAS BLEACH: 2023 has seen you open a new chapter in your journey following a string of collaborations, and with these songs it really does feel like a new beginning for you as an artist. Looking at the journey that has got you here, what do you think is the main takeaway you’ve learnt of what you want as an artist while creating this new era of songs?

KIIARA: Honestly, staying true to myself. I wanted to have a little bit of the “low kii savage” sound in this new music after I had gone through vocal lessons, and have learned a lot about myself and my craft. So it kind of feels like a “low kii savage” 2.0 with a little taste of things I’ve learnt along the way like drill music and lo-fi. And so to be able to share that now with these new songs with “Speed”, “Cum In Peace”, and “Hangover”, I do genuinely think they are the perfect ones to do that. I have like 20 songs ready to go, so at the moment I’m just picking my favorites, and those three I feel like are a good representation of the new era while also tying in the old stuff.

TB: Your new single “Speed” is a catchy and moody track that immediately combines together pop and lo-fi influences. Can you explain the creative process behind this particular track?

K: I went in the studio with Larzz Principato, Allie Crystal, and One Love, and we were talking about Hyperpop, but we didn’t want to just do a straight Hyperpop song, so One Love started playing something on the piano and it was so beautiful, and he actually ended up recording that intro live. 

So we just started with that and then began writing it, and honestly finishing it all in one session. I was going through a phase where I kept meeting guys that were just duds. One second I was like “they’re so cool” and the next I’m being let down. So it was like these guys couldn’t match my speed. Larzz or Allie mentioned that I was a different breed, so we went with that. And that’s also the first time l’d ever really done harmonies on a track. So yeah, the creative process for that was so seamless.  

TB: The production reminds me a little bit of PinkPantheress, as well as some of your older material. Who or what were some of your sonical references?

K: I’m so happy you could hear a bit of PinkPantheress in it, I love her so much. A remix with her for this song would be so sick! But for this song I was referencing “2 Much” from Justin Bieber’s album “Justice”. I love him, his music, his lyrics, and his story. We listened to that song in the studio and just felt very inspired. 

TB: “Never gonna match my speed” is one of the catchy lyrical refrains. What is one of your personal favourite lyrical moments in the song?

K: “My foot’s heavy on the gas. There’s no way I’m looking back. If I do then I might crash” is my favourite because I was always told by people in my family to keep things in the rearview and don’t look back at it. So yeah, that line means a lot to me as it’s me finally taking their advice *laughs*. 

TB: “Cum In Peace” is a song that doesn’t hold back one bit. It’s confident, honest and has a lot of light and shade. How important was it for you that this song had the right light and shade where it was playful but also emotionally honest?

K: I remember going into that session and I was still in that phase where I kept running into fuck boy after fuck boy, and I was just like, “what the hell?”. Or I would move on from someone, and that guy wouldn’t let me fully move on. So I’m just like, “that’s big fuck boy energy”. So, going into that session, me, the writers and the producers were like, let’s just say the craziest lyrics and wildest shit we could think of. It was around the same time “WAP” came out, so we were inspired to do something in that lane, which was something I’d never done before. 

It was important for us to channel that confident and empowering character for that song. So I’m glad we were able to bring that energy to life through it, because at first when I was singing it, I’m not gonna lie, I felt a little weird and questioned if it was too much.

TB: “Let a bitch cum in peace” is one of my favourite lyrics of 2023 for obvious reasons. Do you remember when you wrote that line?

K: Yeah, that was the moment I was worried we had pushed it too far. But there is that double meaning to the line “let me cum in peace”. I debated it a lot but ultimately realised how empowering it was. 

TB: You kicked off this new era with “Hangover”. What was it about this song that for you felt like the perfect song to introduce this new era for you?

K: I picked that one because for me it felt like “Gold” 2.0. I read all of the comments my fans post on youtube and everywhere, and they’re all like “we want new music like Gold”. And so that’s the one I wanted to come back with because I hadn’t really released my own solo stuff for a whole year as I was doing EDM features.

TB: The song is all about the rush and adrenaline of spending time with someone, but then experiencing hangover symptoms after they leave you feeling confused. What triggered that epiphany for you, because I loved the idea of referencing that feeling to a hangover. 

K: When I’d work with Larzz, I’d go into the studio and just vent about what was going on in my life. And at the time I was like “Oh, this guy is doing this,and we hang out but I miss him so much” and then he was like “Okay, I have this idea. What if we write about having a love hangover.” and I was like “yes” immediately. It was basically about that feeling of withdrawl, and craving their attention. Honestly, that’s why I prefer to be the one to leave, cause then you don’t feel it as much. You can move on easier if you’re the one that was able to break it off first, but I mean also that can damage you later.

TB: Now I have to talk about the viral success of “Gold” because that song had a complete life of its own and even reached number 5 on the ARIA Charts in Australia. So where has been one of the weirdest or funniest places you’ve heard the song playing? 

K: This one happened recently. I was having a really rough day and a friend of mine from scholl was driving through LA and messaged me to be like “l’m going to drive past your place and lets go to the Nike store”. He had to literally drag me out of my place as I was just in a really bad mood *laughs*. And then we walked into the store and “Gold” was playing and I immediately looked at him and was like “okay, I feel a little better now” *laughs*. 

TB: “Feels” was the song that made me fall in love with you, and the thing that really stood out on that one was the songwriting, with the honest and relatable refrain “And I got way too many feels. Way too much emotion”. A giant mood. 7 years later do you find yourself having a new perspective to it following its mammoth success and hearing how it’s connected with listeners?

K: I do because that is one where I feel like it’s a little bit in the background because “Gold” overshadowed the success a lot. But that is the one a lot of people are like “I found you with “Feels”, I love that song!”. It was reallty reassuring that so many people gravitated towards that song as it reminded me that we’re not alone. We all have a lot of emotions and feelings inside of us that we sometimes need to share. 

What’s crazy about that one is that I heard like a 30 second demo, and I was immediately obsessed. I was begging the producer for months to let me be on it. Finally we were in the studio and we cut it and it came together so quickly. It’s still one of my favorites to perform. There’s so many remixes of it. And I’m so happy that the song has lived on for so many years, and it still feels fresh now.

The craziest thing that has happened was I was seeing a guy and I met their ex and they were bitching about the guy and waslike, “I was listening to your song “Feels” after we broke up and then he started dating you” *laughs*. I felt so terrible!

TB: As I mentioned before, you had a lot of early success in Australia. So when are we going to finally see you here?

K: Hopefully soon! I was supposed to do one and it just randomly got cancelled and we have no idea why. But I am really keen to finally get down there. I have some friends there and I’ve heard beautiful things. I really want to go. I always see people posting on Instagram being there and holding koalas and stuff, and I’m like, “the hell, we need to make this happen”. 

“Speed” is out now!