Julia Michel&rsquo;s new EP is her, unfiltered. It&rsquo;s the boldest, &nbsp;most unapologetic version of herself we&rsquo;ve heard yet &mdash; a no-holds-barred dive into raw self-expression.

Julia Michaels isn&rsquo;t asking anymore &mdash; she&rsquo;s telling. In May 2024, the chart-dominating songwriter unleashed Second Self, a feral, no-notes EP that tears through six tracks of <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/travel/western-australia-made-outdoor-adventure-my-identity">raw emotion</a>, self-reckoning, and pure, undiluted Julia. Released under her own imprint, GFY Records &mdash; yes, that probably means exactly what you think &mdash; it&rsquo;s a <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/fashion/chase-the-sun-may-ho-embraces-the-tropical-heat-with-gucci">declaration of independence</a> with bite. We&rsquo;ve had Second Self on repeat for weeks now, and let&rsquo;s just say: the multi-platinum, GRAMMY-nominated artist has entered her villain era &mdash; and she&rsquo;s wielding a pen, a mic, and absolutely no patience for playing nice. To go deeper into the firestorm that is&nbsp;Second Self, we sat down with Michaels herself. What followed? A conversation about shedding skin, steering the narrative, and the wild truths behind every razor-sharp track.

&ldquo;Second Self&rdquo; is such an evocative title. What does the concept mean to you, and how does it shape the emotional core of the EP? For me, Second Self represents this other side of who I am &mdash; beyond just being the emotional, vulnerable songwriter that people have come to know me as. I&rsquo;ve always led with my feelings, and I think when your first big songs are super raw and emotional, people expect you to live in that space forever. But I&rsquo;m also fun and <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/fashion/interview-anya-hindmarch-on-her-uniqlo-x-anya-hindmarch-collection-and-obsession">flirty, kitschy and campy, sarcastic and a little self-deprecating</a>. I&rsquo;m still that emo girl at heart, but Second Self gave me permission to show off all the other messy, playful parts of me, too. So many tracks &mdash; like &ldquo;Heaven II,&rdquo; &ldquo;Scissors,&rdquo; and &ldquo;GFY&rdquo; &mdash; feel like emotional X-rays. Was there a moment in writing this EP where you felt you reached a new level of vulnerability? Honestly, it wasn&rsquo;t so much about diving deeper into vulnerability &mdash; it was about showing my personality more. I've always leaned into the emotional side of songwriting, and when that&rsquo;s how you first introduce yourself to the world, it&rsquo;s easy to feel boxed in. With Second Self, I gave myself space to be flirtatious, to be cheeky, and to tap into my sense of humour. I hadn&rsquo;t really allowed myself to go there before, or maybe I didn&rsquo;t think I could.

Julia Michaels - Try Your Luck (Official Video)

There&rsquo;s a clear theme of duality &mdash; how we feel on the inside versus what we show to the world. How have you navigated that space in your own life? I think I&rsquo;ve always been pretty transparent. I write based on exactly where I am in life, and my fans can feel that. Second Self isn&rsquo;t a flashback to who I was ten years ago &mdash; it&rsquo;s me now. It reflects what I&rsquo;m feeling right in this moment. I&rsquo;ve always worn my heart on my sleeve, and I&rsquo;m proud of that. Having this creative space to process and share what&rsquo;s really going on internally? That&rsquo;s everything. You&rsquo;ve written for some of the biggest names in the industry, but&nbsp;Second Self&nbsp;feels completely your own. What can you express in your own music that you can&rsquo;t when writing for others? The biggest difference? I get to say exactly what I feel. When I&rsquo;m writing for someone else, I&rsquo;m helping them tell their story, and I tend to filter myself a bit more. But when it&rsquo;s my own music, it&rsquo;s uncensored. It&rsquo;s the good, the bad, the ugly, the sexy, the flirty, the funny &mdash; whatever I&rsquo;m feeling. If people get it, great. If they don&rsquo;t, that&rsquo;s okay too. This is my truth.

There&rsquo;s a quiet rage and a soft defiance that runs through the EP. Was there a specific life event that sparked this creative chapter? Not really one specific event, but I&rsquo;ve always loved choirs &mdash; I love that feeling of voices coming together, singing as one. There&rsquo;s something so powerful and healing about that. When I&rsquo;m on tour and I hear people singing my lyrics back to me, it&rsquo;s overwhelming in the best way. It makes me feel less alone. I knew I wanted to capture that feeling on Second Self &mdash; that shared emotion, that sense of community and connection. It&rsquo;s one of the most special things about making music. You&rsquo;ve said your lyrics are like journal entries. Is there a lyric &mdash; or a song &mdash; from&nbsp;Second Self&nbsp;that scared you the most to share? Oh, definitely. There&rsquo;s a song called &ldquo;Time&rdquo; that I wrote by myself &mdash; Emmit Fenn produced it &mdash; and it&rsquo;s probably the rawest thing I&rsquo;ve ever put out. It&rsquo;s about my last relationship, and for a long time I couldn&rsquo;t even finish it. I had the verses done for over a year before I wrote the chorus. When I finally did, I just knew I had to release it, even though it terrified me. It tells my side of the story &mdash; no filter. That&rsquo;s the most vulnerable I&rsquo;ve ever been in a song.

Track listing can shape the entire listening experience. How did you decide the order of the songs on&nbsp;Second Self? Honestly, I go off gut feeling. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s a perfect formula for it &mdash; it&rsquo;s just about what feels right to me. I listened to all the songs and asked myself, &ldquo;Does this flow? Does this feel good?&rdquo; That&rsquo;s really how I make most of my creative decisions. It&rsquo;s all about the vibe. Your earlier work gave voice to heartbreak and pain. Do you feel like&nbsp;Second Self&nbsp;is giving voice to something else &mdash; maybe power, or even joy? Absolutely. I feel like I&rsquo;m reclaiming my fun, my playfulness. Yes, those raw and emotional songs are still a big part of me, and they&rsquo;ve connected me to so many people in such a beautiful way &mdash; but I&rsquo;m also a grandma at heart [laughs]. I love baking, gardening, reading, cuddling with my fianc&eacute;. I&rsquo;m genuinely happy right now, and this EP gave me permission to just live in that happiness and express it unapologetically. What do you hope people take away from&nbsp;Second Self &mdash; not just about you, but about themselves? That it&rsquo;s okay to be all the things. You don&rsquo;t have to pick a lane. You can be soft and strong, sexy and sad, flirty and philosophical &mdash; all at once. That&rsquo;s what Second Self is. It&rsquo;s funny, emotional, weird, honest, light, heavy &mdash; all the things that make us human. I just hope people feel seen in it, and that it gives them permission to embrace every part of who they are.

Dive into Julia Michaels' critically acclaimed new EP below.

Exclusive: Julia Michaels on “Second Self” and being the baddest version of herself

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