The 24-year-old, who has lived many lives, is the most authentic of all of them.
SUCKERPUNCH picks up where Paranoia left off but in a bigger and bolder way. There are 15 songs that reveal Lindemann’s complex inner dialogue in SUCKERPUNCH. The song “self sabotage” speaks to her habit of pushing people away. She says she is experimenting with her new music. I like to mix and match different genres. I hope people are aware of that.
The pop hit “Pretty Girl” was the first thing that came to mind when she introduced herself as a punk artist. The song was written in a slower style and references her time as a meme. She used the lyrics, “There’s more to me than people know” and “I don’t let it show, but I’ve been through some shit” to invite people to listen. The emotional roots of the song were lost when it was turned into a club anthem.
In Europe, “Pretty Girl” became a chart-topping success, landing at number 4 in Sweden, 6 in Ireland, and 8 in the UK. 300 Entertainment pushed the singer to record more pop singles because it wasn’t her preferred genre. He says that he was so young at the time. Being so young, and then put into something where you don’t know anything about it, you just kind of listen to what people say, and then it makes you angry.
She says that the bubblegum stuff she did was what people first saw of her. It isn’t a good representation of me. I wish I could have been who I was before. After dropping her label, she decided to distribute her music through a distributor. She thinks it has been better because she is her own boss. I own my masters and have complete creative control so I can do anything I want to do.
Her debut record is a testament to her talent. Ahead of the album’s release, she talked with NYLON about finding confidence through writing, her dream collaborators, and why she wants to fine- tune her production skills.
Do you know what this project means to you?
I started working on it after I finished Paranoia and I think it’s just the evolution of me and my music. I’ve tried a lot of new things and just explored some, so it’s just the evolution of me as an artist.
Do you think you have evolved into something?
I think I’m alone. I feel very good about myself and my work. I think I’ve been more confident than I’ve been.
It all clicked, what made it that way?
It felt like I came into my own with Para noia. When I did that, I was very confident. The way it was done was perfect. I was able to do it easily. I didn’t have a writer’s block or anything, that was the easy part. It all came naturally, which was quite strange. When I did that, I felt like everything was done, which gave me the confidence to do Slaughter.
Do you think SUCKERPUNCH is an extension of your last project?
I’d say that. It is just elevated. New sounds are introduced by me. It’s still the same, but I’ve explored more.
I remember reading that Paranoia was your starting point and that you wanted to make your next project bigger and better. Are you certain that you accomplished that?
It’s definitely true. It wasn’t easy. I felt like this was harder to do than Paranoia because I had so many blocks. It is an extension of that. The longer version is the better one.
This one was more difficult.
I had a hard time. It is a bigger body of work. You need to think about it a bit more. It’s a big difference. It needs to be cohesive and feel confident in all the songs. It was important for me to want every song to sound different because I like writing about the same things.
It is a big change from the bubblegum-pop era. Did you know from the beginning that you wanted to do that?
I started making alternative pop when I first started, and then I started doing bubblegum when I got signed to a label. As a label, they wanted to do what works and that’s why “Pretty Girl” popped off. I was pushed into that a bit. I was aware that I didn’t want to do that. I always wanted to do things that weren’t normal. I wanted to make pop music similar to BANKS.
Initially, I wanted to do that. Pop-punk was not like it is now when I started. It wasn’t what it was when I started in either of the previous years. It’s what I grew up on and I didn’t think that was possible. I like pop- punk. My family is all metalheads. My father and mother love alternative rock. It’s what I was taught. I always liked pop-punk, so I was like, “Fuck it.” I’ll do that.
Who were your musical heroes as a kid?
Growing up, it was like Lana Del Rey.
Did you try to produce?
I made a small amount of it. I know what I want, even though I am not very good at it. I don’t know many words that producers know. I’m not sure how to describe it.
Do you remember which song was written first?
One of the first songs on the album was “hear me out.”
Do you like any of the songs on the album?
It’s likely that “self sabotage” is what it’s called. Self sabotage is something I enjoy. I like all of it, but I thinkelf sabotage is the one I’m most connected to. The one I was most satisfied with at the end was the one I wrote. I was amazed by the lyrics.
Is it possible to walk me through the lyrics.
I don’t do well with everything I do. I like to cause trouble in my life. I’m not sure why I do it. “I start to fall, then I cave and I push you away, you could call it self-sabotage.” I’ll start fighting and do the rest. I like to push people so that I can feel that they care, but then I do too much and it makes people angry.
Is making music that’s self-awareness helped you navigate those situations?
I believe so. When I write, I am able to hear it and see it from a different perspective. It’s an outside perspective because I’m hearing what I just said. It is similar to going to therapy and listening to it.
What do you think will happen to your career in the next five years?
I’m not sure. I would like to headline my own tour. I would love to do that. I would like to do more cool performances. I want to do as many of those as I can. I want to reach more people and be happy in my career in five years.
Do you want to collaborate with any people?
I’m going to make a song and then I’m going to hear someone. I made “how could you do this to me?”, and then for some reason I heard his voice, but I didn’t know it at the time. The register and the key make the voice sound great. That is how I came up with that. I would like to work with Oliver. I would love to work with some people. I would just be grateful to work with anyone, there’s a lot of cool people and artists right now.
After listening to this album, what do you want people to know about you?
Who am I? I want people to listen to the lyrics and not just skim through them, because the lyrics mean something to me. I want people to know more about who I am.