We all just cried and held each other.
(Shes aiming for a fall release date.)
Im just desperate to start doing new stuff, but Im also a perfectionist, she says.
Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
So while I finish up the record, I decided this would be a good interim.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me about theDonna Lewis coveryou released earlier this month.
Why that song now?
BETTY WHO:I rediscovered it a couple of years ago.
Over the last couple of years its just stuck with me.
Hearing somebody else affirm it was kind of like, Okay, maybe we should actually get this done.
Do you keep a bucket list of songs you want to cover?
Actually I have a list in my notes on my iPhone thats like, Songs to Cover.
Can you share whats on it?
You know what song Ive always wanted to sing?
U + Ur Hand by P!nk.
Ive always wanted to do a kind of stripped-down version of that.
You know who does a cool stripped down version of that song?
Robyn.Its somewhere on YouTube.
If shes done it, then maybe I cant do it.
Ill have to check it out though.
So are you almost done with the album?
Have you nailed down a tracklisting?
A lot of tentative track listings.
I want the record to be around 12 or 13 songs.
Ive got about 16 that I play around with.
Every other day Im like, No, this should be on it!
No,thisshould be on it!
Theyll all eventually be made public.
Whats that been like?
So much of the time, songwriting is so subjective and weird.
you could have a good day or a bad day with somebody.
Ive definitely had a couple of really really serendipitous moments like that.
One of my favorite ones was with Justin Tranter.
It was 3:30 and Justin was like, Okay, the songs done, wine anybody?
Im a big fan of his work.
Oh my God, hes such a star, Im obsessed with him.
Everybody always told the both of us that we would be in love.
Im like, Babe, me too!
Im not one of those people whos like, Heres how I work, everybody get on board!
Although I guess that would be pretty succinct and quite efficient.
For me, I dont like writing if its not fun.
I dont like being in a session and feeling stressed out.
Sometimes Ill go, What have you been listening to?
Heres have I been listening to.
Thats what Im writing nowsongs that I dont have.
That really helps to give you a direction.
So whereareyou at sonically?
Bring me up to date on your sound.
Ive experimented a lot.
I dont mean like indie and atonalI havent experimentedthatmuch.
But Ive definitely tried to find the holes in the last record.
I wanted it to be a record that I was excited to play live.
Thats my favorite thing about what I do: performing and being with people and dancing especially.
Are you thinking of road testing material as you make the final decisions?
Yeah, I was going to play a new record at Governors Ball.
I dont really love playing songs that arent out.
Ive been to shows where an artist is like, You guys want to hear a new song?
I mean, yeah, but I also want to hear the songs I know.
I want to sing along with you.
Because thats what shows are about, right?
Community and feeling a part of something for an hour and a half.
Is that a good description of what you have in store?
What about new lyrical groundare you writing about topics that you havent write about before?
Thats kind of how the first record felt to me.
Now it feels more like Im telling 12 or 13 different stories.
I wanted to show more of myself.
If Im angry, be angry.
If Im sad, be sad.
If I want to feel sexy, I want to do that specifically.
That story needs to be told as well.
Before I let you go, I need to knowwhats your pick for Song of the Summer?
MNEKs At Night (I Think About You).
Hes a friend of mine, so it feels like Im biased, but Im not!
Im totally in love with him.
He and I wrote a song for the record too that I love.
Hes so talented, and I think he is such an important musician and storyteller.
Thats definitely one of my main jams this summer.
