"I see everythin' in slow motion, like a movie scene," Alessia Cara sings on "Slow Motion," one of the singles from her new album, Love & Hyperbole. It's a fitting statement for the singer/songwriter, whose music has felt cinematic since her breakthrough 2015 hit "Here." Her poetic lyrics paint grand storylines, taking listeners through every emotion — and her new album explores these feelings more deeply.
Love & Hyperbole is Cara's most emotive album to date, which is no coincidence. She started working on it a few months after the release of her 2021 set, In The Meantime. Within that nearly four-year timeframe, she began a new relationship and further connected with herself as both a songwriter and a woman.
Drawing inspiration from the lush, breezy sounds of her favorite artists like Fleetwood Mac and the Beatles, the songwriting and rhythms found on Love & Hyperbole is Cara at her most sophisticated. The tender ballad "(Isn't It) Obvious" (which features an impassioned guitar solo by John Mayer) discusses holding on to hope in a long-distance relationship, while "Dead Man" harshly closes a chapter of a failing one; "Feels Right" warmly takes a chance on new love, while "Night Time Thing" captures life's sheer bliss.
Fans have witnessed Cara emerge from her shell throughout her career, from her introverted "Here" debut and 2018's The Pains of Growing album, to what she calls her "in-between life" phase of In the Meantime. On Love & Hyperbole, her maturity is reflected in her commanding vocals and more introspective lyricism.
"When you're writing something, you don't know what's gonna click with people. You don't know if it's gonna make sense at all. So it's reassuring and validating to hear that it comes across and that you see the growth there," Cara tells GRAMMY.com. "I just hope that people can see themselves in it, and parts of their lives. Whether they're in their twenties, out of their twenties, or approaching their twenties, I just hope that they can take something from it. This album is a retelling of my life, but also hopefully [they see] it's a retelling of theirs to some degree."
Before the album's release, Cara chatted with GRAMMY.com about the "self-assured" chapter that influenced Love & Hyperbole, the genius of John Mayer, and the importance of recording the album live.
When listening to this album, the first word that came to mind was "richness" because of the instrumentation and your vocals. Also your visuals, with the darker tones of the wine-colored reds and blacks. I wanted to know if that richness was more intentional for this go-round.
Thanks for noticing. This is definitely something that I wanted to visually represent in a way that felt like a step up from what I've done in the past, and also to be a reset. I just wanted to be set apart from the other things I've done.
I also wanted it to visually embody the themes that I'm talking about, which are love and growing up. And there's this sonic sense of sophistication a little bit there. I wanted to represent getting a little bit older and feeling emotions that are a little bit richer, like you said.
In the past, I've played with a lot of bright colors. My three [previous] album covers were a lot brighter and used more pastels that felt a little surreal. And this [album] felt a little bit more grounded sonically.
The album sounds like you wrote without hesitation. In promo for your album, you mentioned that at first, it was challenging for you to write about love in a positive way. But throughout Love & Hyperbole, you get more vulnerable with yourself.
I do think part of the reason why I was struggling to get back into writing in the beginning was exactly what you said — I had to reposition my voice a little bit. I was not really used to writing about things in a more positive sense. So halfway through the album, when things started getting a little bit better and happier and more colorful in my life, I was struggling [to figure] out how to put fresh eyes on these new experiences in a way that still feels like me and doesn't feel cheesy. [Like,] how do I get the same result out of this new feeling or this new impetus?
So that was challenging, but I think I just had to write my way through it. Say the honest thing that felt most authentic to me, and see what would happen when I threw paint at the canvas.
I think when you're being most honest and trying things that feel real to you, you're bound to find something that works and that is a happy medium. It did take a bit of time because it's just not a place I'm used to writing from.
It's not a comfortable place either. Even when I write in my journal, sometimes it's hard to get those feelings across. But it was great listening to how honest you are on this album. I think that's a reflection of you being more confident. On songs like "Box in the Ocean" and "Shape Shifter" from 2021's In The Meantime, you were questioning love. But with Love & Hyperbole, you're more self-assured with the idea.
For sure, and I think that is because I'm just more self-assured in how I feel about myself and how I look at life. It's a chiseled version of what In The Meantime was. I have shaped the clay a little bit further. I have a better understanding of myself and more trust in myself, which has allowed me to have more trust in love.
I'm sure you understand with your journal, you don't need to vent when you're happy. So you don't have to expel these emotions when there's nothing really bad to say. We're just not used to complaining when things are good. So finding your voice in that way can be a challenge. But it was a good challenge, and it was fun to explore that side of myself.
You also recorded the album live. Was it your first time doing that?
I love live instrumentation, so I've had a lot of live instruments on my past projects. But this one was predominantly live. 90 percent of the drums were live. 90 percent of the instruments were live. And of course, my vocals.
I always sing live all the way through, and we pick parts that we like. But I sang full takes live as much as possible — I just to make it feel like a performance. I wanted this album to feel like a full performance with everybody in the room together.
Going off the Love and Hyperbole title itself, having those big instruments — the trumpets and the guitar solos — leans into all of these big feelings that you're expressing on the album. The sound is just so effortless. That may be a product of it being live, but you were also inspired by your love for the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac. There's an ease when listening to it.
That's how I tried to approach most of this album. With the exception of the first couple of songs where I was still feeling a lot of tension. It is a continuation of the last album initially, but then I wanted it to eventually start to feel like an ease has been put in my life because that's how I was feeling throughout the process. Once I got in the groove, I was just trying to let things rock and just enjoy it. Even if I had a lot of questions thematically, and even if there was a lot of fear and insecurities. I approached it with a "so what?" sense.
This is what I'm dealing with. This is what I've gone through. And rather than being like, "What am I going to do about it?" I tried to make it feel like, "It is what it is." So I approached it that way. I'm glad that it comes across sonically too.
I like that you pointed out that Love & Hyperbole is a continuation of the last album. Because it opens with "Go Outside!," which embodies feeling the sunlight on your face and getting out of emotional isolation. It felt like basking in all of your person, whether it's good or bad.
I ended In The Meantime with "Apartment Song," which is about me learning to feel comfortable in my solitude. It's about literally being enclosed in my apartment. At the time I was in isolation [because of the pandemic]. Going from "Apartment Song," the next thing you hear from me three years later is "Go Outside!" It's about me saying, "I've done enough of the inside stuff. I've gotten comfortable with my solitude. But now I'm ready to let in some light. Open the blinds, go see the outside world, and get outside of myself a little bit."
I found that I was in my head a lot. The last few words you hear on "Go Outside!" are "I know the rain, but how do I let in the light?" The song ends with a question. The rest of the album goes into finding answers to that question. And you're very right. It's about feeling comfortable in your person and understanding how to let these [feelings] in and explore new ways of thinking.
I've had "Dead Man" on repeat and you sound like such a badass. You could have easily gone the pouty "woe is me" route. But your voice is so fierce and I attributed it to you being the one holding up the relationship the whole time, so you had no choice but to be the strong one. I love that the vocals match the lyrics.
Thank you again. That's one of my favorites on the album, too. I believe it's the only song on the album that I actually wrote without going through the experience in real time. I was a bit removed from this situation, which is why maybe my vocals are a little bit stronger and the lyrics are a little bit more sure of themselves.
But you are right, too. There is a sense of having to keep things together and be the strong one. I also wanted it to feel like trying to get across to someone and yelling in a way that they can hear you. Because when a relationship is dying, or when the person in front of you feels like they're not there, you just want to shake them and make yourself be heard.
So it's a bit of both. It's being removed and having a sense of confidence of "you lost me and I tried to warn you," but then also this other side to it. "Are you listening to me? This is failing and I have to hold this together."
I want to point out one lyric that stood out to me. On "Run," you sing, "Don't pay any mind to the ghosts on my back. They've all become my friends." It's you accepting all of your past selves. What have you learned about yourself through this album process?
It means exactly what you're saying. Once I've gotten on the other side of a lot of these experiences and a lot of these heavy feelings, I've learned that we all are a product of all of the versions of ourselves and all of the things that we've gone through, both good and bad. I think we need that contrast in life.
I don't regret any of those past selves, and that's what that line is basically saying. Yes, there are some demons here. There's some baggage, some ghosts. But I've learned how to work with them and just accept them. They actually are beneficial to me now, and I know how to use them as tools. So that song is about accepting certain versions of yourself, even though they sabotaged you in the past.
As the album goes on, you see me accept those different selves even more — especially on the song "Clearly," which is about forgiveness of other people, but also of past versions of yourself. It's understanding that I needed all of you to be where I am.
John Mayer plays a guitar solo on "Isn't It (Obvious)," and it's the perfect interpretation of your lyrics. His solo sounds so reassuring and comforting.
He's amazing. That was so incredible watching him piece that together in such a short amount of time. He's also such an intuitive creative that you don't ever have to give him direction.
I remember playing this song for people and I wouldn't tell them that it was him playing on it, just to see what they would say. They all guessed that it was him four notes in, so I just found that so impressive. He's playing the same notes that everyone plays, but he has such a way of speaking it that it's so identifiable. He played that [solo] perfectly.
From top to bottom, we're listening to you navigate and process love from its darker moments to finding bliss on songs like "Nighttime Thing." How do you think you want to approach love in the future?
I've learned a lot through the last three years of writing this album. I've had the chance to experience so many different forms of love — all of which I think are beneficial, whether they ended in pain or not.
Knowing what I know now, and having experienced a love that I think is the best version of love for me, I realize that love that's good for you should feel like it is expansive and that it shows you parts of yourself you didn't know were there. It makes you feel larger, rather than makes you feel smaller, or makes you feel like you have to suppress parts of yourself. I think it should bring out parts of you. If you're experiencing a love like that, you're in the right direction.