Hailee Steinfeld recently released a new upbeat song titled “I Love You's,” which is inspired by Annie Lennox’s 1995 hit “No More I Love You's.”
The track is the lead single from Steinfeld’s upcoming two-part project, with the remainder of the first installment to be unveiled on May 1.
In a virtual press conference on Wednesday, the multi-platinum recording artist talked more about her new song and the message she wants to convey.
“I do think that with my current single ‘I Love You's,’ there’s such a strong message of self-love which seems to be a recurring theme in my music,” she began.
“I think this song is about being in a sort of confined space and losing sight of who I was and realizing that time alone and time for myself was what I needed and that wasn’t such a bad thing. I think sometimes the idea of being alone can be daunting or not necessarily desirable for some people. I was in a certain situation where that was like the last thing I wanted. But I knew it’s what I needed,” she added.
Aside from the message of the song, “I Love You's” is also special for the “Pitch Perfect” actress because she is making her directorial debut with its music video.
“When it came to making the video for ‘I Love You's,’ we actually had a version of the video that didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. When the time came to doing it the second time, I figured out I’d throw my hat in and make it happen and sort of just execute my vision the best I could. I did it with the help of Sarah McColgan who is amazing and we were just on the same page,” she said.
In addition to having her “two worlds collide” when making music videos, Steinfeld said she also got to enjoy wearing beautiful outfits when she filmed it.
“Somehow, with all of the outfits that I’ve tried on, we ended up getting all of my favorites in the video. I don’t know about a favorite from the video because they were all in there. But we did have this incredible moment with this Valentino and Versace look which I love so much.
“I always knew that the video would be black and white so it was important that each look was bold and it was more about the texture and the pattern rather than the colors. That one, I’ve always felt it stood out to me the most in the fitting room, on the rack and on the day of the video and, of course, in the video,” she said.
Meanwhile, Steinfeld shared what it is like to release new music during trying times like today.
“You know I always say and I really do believe that music has such a unique ability to connect people and bring people joy. As a fan of music, I am always looking for my favorite artist to put new tunes out. As strange as it feels to be putting music out, it almost feels like it’s the right thing to do because I think it continues to connect people,” she said.
The singer, however, admitted that being in quarantine like most people now has and hasn’t been beneficial to her, creatively speaking.
“I have days where I wake up and I feel like, wow I’ve got nothing but time. There’s so much freedom in that thought, not having to be anywhere at a certain time. But there’s also part of me that wakes up, nowhere to go and it feels like I don’t know what to do with myself. I normally always have somewhere to be. It’s been an adjustment but I’ve been trying my best to stay creative,” she said.
Like other artists, Steinfeld said she still feels fortunate to be doing something she loves even if it means overcoming struggles along the way.
“I think all of us know we’ve got to climb some hills to get to the top. That’s not always fun, that’s not always pretty, it’s not always exciting. Sometimes, I would question why I’m doing this sort of things and I know that it’s to get to the top of that one hill. I’m constantly reminding myself of that. There’s no denying that there are parts to this that I don’t love, but I do it for an ultimate reason and that’s what keeps me going,” she said.
To end the press conference, Steinfeld said she couldn’t wait to “celebrate music and celebrate life” again with everyone when everything goes back to normal.
Addressing her Filipino fans, she said: “I love you guys so, so much truly from the bottom of my heart and I miss you all. I cannot wait till we hopefully all recover from this very soon and get to be in one room, listening to music, celebrating music, celebrating life, celebrating each other. Stay safe everyone. I hope I get to see you soon.”
news.abs-cbn.com
