ARI ABDUL TALKS 2 PROVOKR
Take A Walk On The Wild Side
Ari Abdul has taken the pop world by storm over the past few years, releasing a series of singles that have earned millions of streams. Now, the singer is getting ready to step into a new phase of her career: her first album.
“I always feel weird about calling it an album, but it is,” Abdul told PROVOKR of The Void, her debut album. “It started off more of a mix-tape, but then after two years of putting in this work and trying not to really make an album…it kind of just started telling its own story, and it was becoming more and more cohesive. I think it was just trying to tell its own story.”
The Void follows two EPs (Fallen Angel and CCTV) and a slew of singles, including this year’s “ENAMORED,” “Ego,” and “So Good.” Inspired by 2010s artists like Lorde, the Neighbourhood, and Melanie Martinez, the album is a “vulnerable” step for Abdul.
“I’m still growing as a person,” she explained. “I feel like I am just learning about me, and it’s hard to face those [hard] things. And a lot of these songs on the project are kind of — they’re vulnerable in the way where, like, I am aware I have this self-destructive behavior, and some of the songs…they address them, but they don’t even solve them. It isn’t like ‘Empowerment! We made it!’ It’s like, ‘We’re here, and I’m down bad, and I need you guys to help me out of here.’”
Abdul added, “I feel like it’s been easier recently to just say [these things], and it is uncomfortable, but I feel like the biggest thing I’ve learned is, sometimes it’s better to be uncomfortable and open about it, then uncomfortable and so alone with those feelings.”
“I actually went to therapy for the first time [recently] and I was just realizing how anxious I actually am,” she shared. “I feel like I always have this thing in my mind where I could be struggling, and I just kind of push it aside [to] just continue working, or not have others worry about me, to not burden them. But I feel like it’s helped me a lot in the writing process, to be able to put it out there into the universe and be like, ‘This is how I feel.’”
Part of being comfortable enough to share those more vulnerable moments? Having collaborators she trusted.
“Two years ago, when I started this process, I really locked in with Stint and Ella Boh, who are my absolute favorite collaborators,” Abdul said. “I feel like we just have this effortless flow we get in where we just — it’s like we’re reading each other’s minds, and the songs just come about so effortlessly. But I feel like that played such a huge part in the whole process… I feel like, with those two, it was just effortless, and I felt almost free to be me, and express all those things.”
She also hopes The Void encourages others to explore the darker, more difficult sides of themselves, saying that “breaking the fourth wall and kind of having others kind of feel that ‘sitting alone and listening [to] your intrusive thoughts’ [feeling] when they’re listening to it” is a goal of the project.
Abdul has plans for music videos as well — “I love linking music to a visual world.”
“I’m personally such a nerd when it comes to having the mood, having the scene, match [in a music video],” she continued, explaining that the “biggest” question she asks herself when setting a scene is “What’s the temperature?”
“I love cold settings visually, lots of blues and greens, and I feel like that’s a huge focus with me with this project — having those really cold scenes,” Abdul said. “I revealed the cover art for this album, and it’s me in this bathtub, and it’s kind of greenish and it’s pale. I’m always committed to the bit, so the tub was freezing cold, and so the picture is authentic. It wasn’t a planned pose. I was just shivering in the corner.”
Abdul also can’t wait to bring the songs on The Void to life onstage; while there are no official plans in place for a tour, she shared that she’s interested in putting on some “intimate shows.”
“My favorite thing about [my] shows is seeing people come, because I never in a million years would imagine people would come and see me,” she said, then joked, “Maybe I need to go back to therapy!”
From videos and tours, to a self-exploratory debut, The Void is a massive step for Abdul as an artist. We can’t wait to see where it takes her.
The Void drops November 13 wherever you stream your music.
