USA TODAY International Edition
‘I am here to stay,’ Rachel Platten promises
‘Fight Song’ was just the start of her musical journey
On her new single, NEW YORK Rachel Platten invites you to dance on the shattered glass ceiling.
Broken Glass is the latest female empowerment anthem from the pop singer/songwriter, who cracked the top 10 of radio charts worldwide in 2015 with her ubiquitous Fight Song. The tune has soundtracked commercials and movie trailers, as well as Hillary Clinton campaign in the run-up to last year’s election.
The shimmering dance track is taken from Platten’s still-untitled fourth album, which she previewed for roughly a dozen fans at her label offices last week. The new music shows off more adventurous sides of the New York native, who brings a dark, seductive edge to album cuts Collide and Keep Up, and channels Tove Lo on the infectious bop Shivers, which she calls the most fun song she has ever written. Grace, a dramatic ballad about feeling vulnerable, left some fans tearyeyed, while the affirmative Good
Life lifted spirits on the wings of wonky piano and thundering bass.
Platten, 36, started writing the album late last year and was inspired by the boundary-pushing work of fellow pop artists Robyn, Kiiara, Lapsley and MØ. She sat down with USA TODAY after the event to chat about her next era and life after Fight Song. Qbigger The new songs sound
than anything we’ve ever from you before. What was your mind-set going into this next album? Athat
I wanted to show anyone
was listening that I am here to stay. I write all my songs, I write all my lyrics, so I was kind of like, “Let me show you what I can do now that you’re paying attention.” A lot of people knew me from Fight Song, but they didn’t necessarily know my name. I wanted to show the world, “I have so much more than one song that I’m incredibly proud of, but that’s one in a line of a career’s worth of songs that I want to release.” QGlass You’ve described Broken as a “rallying cry for women.” What inspired it? AThereIt was a big year for women. were a lot of moments when we all stood up for each other, and that’s rare. We’re in this world where we’re often encouraged to compete with one another. This year felt exciting, but it also felt devastating. There were little girls holding posters they drew in crayon at the Women’s March, and I saw that and it broke my heart. I felt like girls and women needed an anthem, and some kind
of message of hope to know that even if we feel suffocated by these limitations we think we have, they’re not true. Qunofficial
Fight Song became an anthem for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Did it inspire you to become more politically or socially conscious on this new record? Abecause Politically conscious, no,
I want to be a uniter. There are enough things dividing us, and politics and religion are things that divide us. That’s never my goal. I’m the kind of person that’s like, “Everyone’s invited to my party.”
But socially conscious, absolutely. I think it’s funny because Broken Glass is a song for women, but women’s rights have become political. I don’t know how that happens — that’s crazy. But there’s a lot to be socially conscious about right now. Qsongs
Are there any other
on the album that may have been inspired by the election or Women’s March? Aresponse. Broken Glass was my
The rest of the record has nothing to do with it, truthfully. It’s just my own personal struggles with fear and insecurities and anxiety, but also elation and being excited that I’m a musician. The songs are deeply honest, emotionally, and it is bigger, sonically. It feels like something maybe that’s more mainstream, but funny enough, the messages are way more raw. Qyou You’ve talked about how
tried to write hits for so long, but it wasn’t until you were honest about your life that you were able to write
Fight Song. Were you able to maintain that approach with this new album, or were there pressures to follow it up? Aabout
I don’t feel any pressure
a follow-up — I didn’t feel it from the day I started. I don’t know why; I probably should have . ... I only felt pressure to be emotionally honest. If I’m not (honest), then the song doesn’t matter.