Last year, with the help of TikTok’s million viewers, Lauren, established herself internationally with her self-released song “Fingers Crossed,” a piece dedicated to a misleading past lover. The single landed top 20 on Billboard Hot 100 in multiple countries, including the US, and the top 10 on the Billboard chart in Spencer-Smith’s native country United Kingdom.
“I met somebody new that was raising my standards and teaching me how I should be treated…. I went into my session feeling angry and wanted to write a heartbreak song. We came up with the ‘Fingers Crossed’ idea, and I think the song speaks for itself. It has that angsty emotion. It’s not just, ‘Oh, you’re going to cry in your bedroom.’ It’s, ‘I’m mad at this person, I’m angry, I could say sorry but I’m not.”
— Lauren Spencer Smith – Billboard Magazine
For those unfamiliar with Lauren or her art, you may remember her from her YouTube channel or her past prime-time television appearances. Shortly after performing with Keith Urban, Lauren started covering popular songs on YouTube, and it played a significant role in her making it on TV. In 2019, she caught the attention of actor, comedian, and TV personality Steve Harvey, covering Lady Gaga’s “Always Remember Us This Way.” The following year she was invited to be a part of the famous music competition show “American Idol” as they embarked on their eighteenth season. She made it to the top 20, beating out thousands of auditioners.
After signing a record deal with Island/Republic Records in 2022, Lauren began to release a plethora of singles, one after another, for her label debut. She released “Flowers,” “Narcissist,” “Single On The 25th”, “28”, and “Best Friend Breakup.” Each song received positive criticism and achieved a high number of streams. Her label announced that her debut would be titled “Mirror” and was set to release in July. We are approaching two weeks after the release and the album, and it is everything you could expect. Lauren does a great job at using her musical abilities to touch on emotions that all could relate to, whether you want to admit it or not. She touches on life, heartbreak, growth, losing best friends, and more, showing she has a significant range in her music.
I got a chance to sit down with Lauren Spencer Smith on her recent press run and ask her some questions about how her lifestyle has changed since signing, her musical process, and her style of music. Make sure to check out the interview below! Also, make sure to get tickets for her “Mirror” tour.
Lauren Spencer Smith Interview
When you’re looking back at the artist you were when you released ‘Fingers Crossed,’ and you’re comparing that to the artist that’s about to release her debut album, what do you find is the biggest difference in your creative process?
- “I feel like I’m a more confident songwriter now; I mean, I feel like it’s been a while since I wrote the first songs for the album. I feel like I used to go into songwriting sessions with Gina, who is my best friend, and she is the person who taught me how to song-write, and we would go into sessions together, and she’d be briefing me in the car of like “what do you want to write about today? You have to make sure you speak up,” “say what you want do not let the song be written without you, or you’re not going to want to put it out.” And I feel like now I can do sessions with anyone, and I walk in very confident in the fact that I know I can write a song and share my ideas, and they’re all valid. So definitely just a difference in confidence levels.”
What are some musical themes that listeners can expect to hear on the album?
- “Oooooh, expect sad ballads my main inspirations for this album were Jp Saxe and Olivia Rodrigo, the sour album sent me into depression for like two years because I could relate and it was all I listened too. Those are my two inspirations, but expect a really sad ballad, wordy, sad lyrics”
Has your career/lifestyle significantly changed any since signing with Island & Republic Records?
- “Yeah, I think my family and I grew up with little to no money and literally had nothing. To the point where if somebody broke a dish we would cry because we couldn’t afford to buy a new one. So I will say financially, things have changed for me drastically; when I was growing up, we didn’t have a house I didn’t have anything like that. Now I have a place that I get to call my home, I’m internally grateful for everything but extremely grateful for having a home and a stable life.”
