Three years in the making, Madison Beer started her next chapter with “Home to Another One,” the first single from her second album. The singer details her “freeing” journey to creating ‘Silence Between Songs.’

In today’s viral era, internet personalities are not always hard to come by. But what isn’t so easy to find is an internet personality with longevity — and Madison Beer has proven she’s more than a fleeting viral star.

Beer started posting cover songs to YouTube in 2012, showing off her pop prowess and ethereal vocals at the age of just 13. She briefly went on the teen pop star trajectory after Justin Bieber signed her to Island Records that same year, but first found her true musical voice on her debut EP, 2018’s As She Pleases. And once she took full control with her debut album, 2021’s Life Support — co-writing and co-producing all 17 songs — she fully settled into Madison Beer the artist.

Now on the cusp of releasing her second album, Silence Between Songs (due Sept. 15 via Epic Records), Beer aims to expand on the mix of unflinching vulnerability and infectious melodies she’s showcased since stepping into her own. She first gave a taste of that with “Home to Another One,” an airy track that’s a mix of Lana Del Rey and Tame Impala — two of her biggest inspirations, the former of whom even gave Beer feedback on the album.

Del Rey’s approval is one of many reasons Silence Between Songs is special to Beer, along with the fact that she once again co-wrote and co-produced every song. But perhaps the most important aspect of the project is the freedom she found through the nearly three-year process.

“As an artist, sometimes we’re told that if we take a break someone will replace you, someone’s gonna be coming up right behind you,” Beer says. “I don’t subscribe to that anymore, and I think that’s been a really freeing thing.”

Beer spoke to GRAMMY.com about how becoming more grounded in her personal life inspired the new music, and why, despite her online fame, she’s “actually quite terrified of the internet at times.”

Congratulations on the release of “Home to Another One” and the album announcement. I would imagine it’s nerve-wracking because one is never really sure how things will be perceived. What’s it like finally starting to get everything out there?

“Home to Another One” I actually only just made six months ago, so it was one of the last additions to the album before I turned it in. It hasn’t been too painful of a waiting process like the other ones. But I think the reveal of the album title was actually kind of the most intense for me. I’ve been sitting on it for three years, so to have it out there feels pretty surreal. But people’s responses have been really positive and people feel excited, which I’m so grateful for.

It is a bit of a new sound for me; it has a different energy from my other songs. But the real fans who listen to my interviews or see me on tour, they know my music catalog of things I listen to is quite electric or different; there’s not just one genre I love. There’s nothing I can do that would really surprise them, because they know I love all kinds of music.

Album titles, and titles in general, are always tricky. Tell me how you came up with yours, Silence Between Songs?

I was really young when I first saw a poem or a book about this kind of idea. It was about missing someone, and it said “I miss you so much in between the time it takes for the next song to start.”

I always thought that was such a cool concept, and wanted to do something with that idea for my debut album. But when we started creating the album in 2020, the song “Silence Between Songs” was one of the first that we created, so it was the first title I had in mind. We worked off of that, and now three years later, it has proper meaning for me. I’ve grown so much since I started creating it, and the album is really about how you can grow by tuning the noise out.

It’s a testament to the title that you stuck with it for three years and nothing overtook it. How have you found that you settle down and tune the noise out?

Definitely, the title has been non-negotiable for me since. But coming off of tour, it’s hard to decompress and settle down. I actually did have a hard time coming back from my last tour, and coming back down to reality; you’re just so crazy busy, and it’s such a dopamine hit every day. It was a bit hard to settle back down, but it is in those moments that I learn the most about myself.

Now I prioritize my alone time and down time; I let my body rest and don’t feel pressured to go out and do things all the time. If I want to stay home and relax in bed the whole weekend, I’ll do that. I’m trying to understand and not feel guilty for the downtime and rest times.

As an artist, sometimes we’re told that if we take a break someone will replace you, someone’s gonna be coming up right behind you. I don’t subscribe to that anymore, and I think that’s been a really freeing thing.

Is that why you felt like you had to keep going?

I think in the past it was that thing of whether people I worked with or people online; this notion who’s always going to be willing to do more than you and do everything, and if you aren’t you’re gonna get replaced. That was a real fear I had for a long time. I don’t let that happen anymore, though. I’ve been dropped from a label and I’ve been replaced, so the fear is real, and for a long time I was quite scared of that. But I’m not anymore.

Do you ever worry about revealing too much or too little of yourself? As an artist, too much may seem like oversharing; yet too little, you’re not being totally honest. Where’s the balance for you, and how have you struck it?

It’s definitely interesting to discuss, because in this day and age of social media a lot of us have this pressure to be relatable and likable. But again, I don’t put that pressure on myself, because I think that I’m not the kind of person who wakes up every single day and feels the need to make a video about these personal things. I’m down to do it when I feel like it, but I feel it’s inauthentic to force yourself into doing it just to be liked. So I try to just post when I feel like it. I think my fans know me and my fans love me. I don’t need to win over the hearts of the general public in order to get my music out there and to be received. I don’t want to ever force myself into doing anything I don’t want to do.

“Home to Another One” is a melancholy anthem with a breakdown. I’m wondering what the genesis of that song was?

Well I thought, “What is my pop sound?” In the past when I’ve made upbeat songs, they’ve kind of been maybe not so authentic to me, or songs that I wouldn’t get in the car and want to listen to. So I thought, “What can I do that is poppy and fun, but still is me, and not selling out to make a song that’s classified as upbeat?”

When I heard it, vocal-wise, it reminded me so much of Lana Del Rey. Would that be fair to say?

Definitely. I’m a huge, huge fan of hers and I feel she’s integrated in me in ways I can’t even pinpoint.

When you’re writing music, as a co-producer, do you know where your songs are going to go style-wise off the bat? What’s your process?

I am a co-producer on all of the songs, which has been another awesome endeavor of mine. I’m lucky to work with my amazing producer Leroy Clampitt who’s willing, and actually eager, to hear my opinion, and wants me to co-produce everything.

It’s not really calculated, I don’t think. It just really flows. It’s kind of a bummer that we didn’t have a camera in the room when we were making it, because I was really involved in every single sound that you hear. My relationship with Leroy is really special because I can make a sound like mmmmm and he’ll know what I mean. Everything is very meticulously planned, but it’s not like, “I want this type of synth.” We let the song flow. and build as we go.

A lot of artists are credited as co-writers on songs, but not many are credited as co-producers. Why was it important for you to be credited as a co-producer on your own tracks?

Working with the same producer for five-plus years now, I feel like I can voice my opinion and it not be weird. Leroy was the one who was gracious enough to say he thought I should get a co-producer credit. He said, “You’ve done just as much as me.” All of the ideas stem from me and us, and we do everything together.

Your debut album came out a couple years ago and you started working on this in 2020. Why such a long process?

It wasn’t supposed to be. Time gets away from you, and I definitely went back in the studio many times to redo things and edit. We’ve had multiple test pressings of the vinyl, and many times I thought it was finished and then went back in.

I don’t know, I feel like this is kind of how I am. I’m never really overly satisfied. But my goal now is to try to get an album out within the next year or so after this one drops. I want to get into a groove of dropping music more frequently and not taking three-year gaps between all of them.

You have such a massive internet footprint, with 34 million followers on Instagram alone. Is a following like that a gift or a burden? How do you grapple with that in your mind knowing you can pick up your phone and post something for an audience of millions?

I’ve been steadily gaining flowers for 12 years, so it’s something that didn’t happen overnight for me. There’s a big difference in the way I go about it now than a couple years ago. I don’t force myself to be engaged all the time or posting every single day.

I’m actually quite terrified of the internet at times. The way it moves can be really scary and I think we don’t give each other room to make human errors. If I do state an opinion online or want to say something, It’s not that I don’t care what people say about it, but I know my intentions are. I’m never going to appeal to and please everyone, but I do know when I want to speak and share, it’s authentic and it’s coming from a good place.