INTERVIEW: Lennon Stella releases new album 'Three. Two. One.'

Interview: Jett Tattersall

Canada’s Lennon Stella first came to global attention at just age 12 as part the country pop duo Lennon & Maisy with her younger sister. Their cover of Robyn’s ‘Call Your Girlfriend’ has attracted 30 million views on YouTube and they both went on to star in the TV series Nashville as sisters Maddie and Daphne Conrad, a role they played for six years.

Stella launched her solo career in 2018 with the single ‘Like Everybody Else’, and the same year scored a major hit single as the featured vocalist alongside Liam Payne on the Jonas Blue single ‘Polaroid’. Her debut EP Love, me a gorgeous collection of laidback electronica, was released in late 2018 with the single ‘La Di Da’ racking up close to 110 million global streams on Spotify alone.

Today, Stella releases her debut album Three. Two. One. Sticking to the dreamy, opulent electronica of her previous release, the 13 tracks ride a crest of emotions that you can tap into whatever your mood. First single ‘Kissing Other People’ is a melancholic take on moving on set to an electro soundscape “But how do you know? / How do you really know / That you're not holding on anymore?” Stella sings. ‘Fear of Being Alone’ and ‘Pretty Boy’ are swirly, dancefloor delights, while the pace is dialled right back on the piano ballad ‘Older Than I Am’, of which Stella told Apple Music “I’ve never felt more connected to a song…when I heard this song for the first time, I was literally sobbing uncontrollably.” Lennon & Maisy are reunited on the epic track ‘Weakness (Huey Lewis)’ which dials back to Stella’s country roots. The album ends with ‘Goodnight’, a gloriously experimental track that manages to encompass piano ballad, synth and ambient techno in the space of three minutes. It is a remarkable debut album and showcases Stella’s as an artist that is more than ready to become one of the biggest stars on the planet.

We recently spoke to Lennon Stella to find out everything about her career and the creation of Three. Two. One.



Hi Lennon. Firstly, I just want to congratulate you on the release of Three. Two. One. How are things with you in these very strange days?
Thank you! Oh, it's such a weird, weird time. But I'm so stoked that I put the album out, this felt like such a long time coming. The fact that it’s actually here is very surreal. So, it's nice to be able to talk about it right now and being at home and having time to think on it. I'm excited. 

Beautiful. On that isolation at home note, I wanted to talk to you about that incredible video you created for ‘Fear Of Being Alone’. It was created in isolation and I heard that your mum was on hand as production assistant moving set pieces. Can you talk me through that incredible video?
Oh my gosh, it was so funny. The actual making of it was so just like... a lot of trash you can get because my mum was like dragging me across the floor! We moved all of my stuff out of my living room and put everything in my kitchen and basically just made it look really cool with sliding movements. We made it look as not as a living room as much as possible. But with the song ‘Fear Of Being Alone’, I like the idea of being in the house with the actual concept of the song. It made sense with the song.

I've seen a lot of home videos being made in lockdown and you’ve clearly won, so take the award for that! Now speaking of your mum, you clearly have quite the talent fountain in your family. Where did your love of music originate?
My parents were a duo growing up so from the time I was born, it was so creative and it was such a musical family. So, just growing up in an extremely music loving environment was really where it originated from.

Now I want to talk to you about ‘Jealous’. I feel like it's got that incredible ‘Bitch’ vibe with equal parts vulnerability and strength which you are so good at doing. I just wanted to know, what is your favourite song that you’ve ever written?
Oh, good question. That’s out in the world right now? Probably ‘Like Everybody Else’. It was the first song I released.

I like that you said ‘that’s out in the world right now.’ So, there's more to come. There's favourites on the way. 
Favourites are on the way!

Speaking of 2019's ‘Bitch (takes one to know one)’. Seriously this was played in our office so much. It's that defiance anthem to being labelled a bitch whenever women demand respect. Clearly this meant something to you too.
Totally. I was actually with my friend Erin, I wrote it with her. She sent me a bit of the song, the concept and a bit of the track. When I first heard it I thought she wrote it being towards a girl. I was like ‘meh I don't love that because I don't want it being catty.’ But it's just about you standing up for yourself when a guy's calling you a bitch. I think it's a really cool feeling behind it. It's just a powerful thing. It was actually more about the concept rather than what I usually write about which is everything that's happened to me.

I think that's incredible and you know what, it's personal to all women because everyone's been there. You yourself have been in the spotlight from child to adolescence and beyond and I just wanted to know what are your thoughts on female empowerment or maybe lack thereof support in the entertainment industry?
I think right now it's a really great time to be a female in the industry because I think there's so much change and so much attention being brought to that subject. I think people are being less and less afraid to talk about it and more aware of it, you know. I think, right now it's a cool time to be a girl in the music industry. I'm so supportive of all the women. 

Nice. It's a gang, there's a gang forming there. Your story is truly unique. You’ve gone from YouTube recordings, which led to your role as Nashville’s Maddie, onto now, your solo recording career. Did you ever struggle with the way that you were perceived as an individual as a performer as opposed to your character Maddie?
No. It is something that I've had to be aware of for sure. But I think because I was a musician before I was an actor it wasn't like I was a character turning into a singer. It was more like a singer that tried out acting for a little bit and is now going back to it. I think I’ve been lucky. It wasn't super jarring to everybody. It seemed very natural for people and they stuck with me through it and there hasn’t been a massive separation of the fans, which I was surprised about. I was definitely aware there was a big expectation for the music I was going to make.

What were some of the biggest challenges you've faced growing up in the public eye as you did?
You know from 12 to 18 is such an awkward stage to go through as a kid and as a teenager and as a young adult. It was just a weird, interesting way to grow up. I'm so lucky to have been on a show filled with such loving nurturing people. I know that I was extremely lucky in that sense. But also every insecurity and thing you go through as a kid gets broadcast. It is documented and then you can't really explore. You can’t dye your hair or go on a trip somewhere, you have to stay in Nashville, stay filming. You can't really change much about you because you're a character. Stuff like that is weird, but overall, I think it was just a very positive experience.

You couldn’t have your standalone sort of adolescent rebellion with giving yourself some dodgy haircuts. 
Exactly. I was like ‘when I am done, I am going white blonde, then was super black, then I’m going pink.’ I tried all the colours the second I was finished. I brought all my colours in.

You were still song writing in amongst all that. What is it about the music that draws you? Do you have a process when writing or are you constantly doing it throughout the day – you’re making notes and hearing sounds?
I'm definitely always hearing things that inspire me. As soon as there's something witty or clever I’m the first person to write it down. But I’m constantly aware of that and always thinking creatively for sure. But as far as actually being in a session, it's typically just one producer and another co-writer with me. And I just kind see what I'm feeling. It's always different with me with each song. It will start with a concept or start from a drum pattern. It could really start from anything.

You mentioned earlier that your songs are usually incredibly personal or something that comes from you. I just wanted to know, do you think there's any drawback of being that honest in your music?
I definitely don't. I really like doing it. I'll get so bored of singing [my songs] if I don't feel them with like every fibre of my being. It would be so boring to me. I have to really connect to it and I think that's the only way that the world will connect to me.

You got to feel it and if you feel it the audience feels it. It's wins all round. Lastly, what's up next for Lennon Stella?
The album is really consuming all of me. The album and then pretty much just whenever I get back on my feet and back in the world, touring and touring this album and feeling the energy of it in the world and with real human contact. But other than that, getting the album out and getting it heard and kind of just thinking on that for a second and feeling what it feels like to have an album out in the world. 

Three. Two. One. is out now. You can download it on iTunes and stream it on Apple Music and Spotify.

To keep up with all things Lennon Stella, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.