Things haven’t always been easy for Lindsay Ell. Since moving to Nashville to pursue her dreams as a singer/songwriter nearly 15 years ago, the Calgary, Alberta native survived sexual assault, was diagnosed with an eating disorder, and even struggled to find her place in the world of Country music. But now, Lindsay is the most confident she’s ever been, and she’s documenting it all in her new EP love myself.
Released on October 25 via Universal Music Canada, the project unlocks a new era for the 35-year-old, as it not only houses some of her most personal songs to date, but ushers in an alt-pop sound that shows her wide range of musical capability.
“This year has honestly been one of the most expansive, full of unforeseen things, and honestly, one of my favorite years I’ve ever lived,” Lindsay tells Celeb Secrets. “I’ve gotten to release new music; I’ve gotten to call Shania Twain my boss; I’ve just gotten to do so many cool things this year that I am so, so grateful for.”
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Recorded in Brooklyn with producer Doug Schadt (Maggie Rogers), love myself explores themes of the human condition throughout the EP such as self-doubt, negative self-talk, resilience and healing. According to Ell, the project “answers a lot of questions of how to accept the person looking at you in the mirror,” which she tells Celeb Secrets helped make a project that features the “most honest” music she’s ever released.
“I think it made perfect sense to call this record ‘Love Myself’ because all of these songs and everything that I’ve been writing and learning and, you know, trying to take in over the past couple years, all trickle down to figuring out how to love yourself and being more open in deeper ways,” Lindsay reveals.
“My path is very unconventional, but I wouldn’t change any minute of it because it’s really made me into who I am today. It’s allowed me to access a depth of gratitude that I never would have been able to even know, so I’m really grateful that I have had to take ‘the hard way’ as I call it because I think it’s really taught me lessons like this,” she continues.
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Although each song reflects her personal experiences, Lindsay has seen that love myself expresses universal emotions and creates a sense of connection with her fans around the world.
“I learned that the songs we write as songwriters have so much power in them when they are heard by strangers on the other side of the planet who may even speak a different language. The amount of DMs I got from a song I wrote about my survivor story as a little girl called ‘Make Me’ was just so impactful to me. I remember reading thousands and thousands of DMs and being like ‘oh my goodness, this is wild how much of an impact music has,'” Lindsay shares.
“So now, going into this new project, as a songwriter, I feel so encouraged to write more vulnerable things and touch topics that I hope the people who need to hear these songs can hear them and can be really inspired to be like, it’s going to be okay. I feel as if that’s the real power of music and the real power of songs, so when I create, I just really want to create from that place of vulnerability and honesty and sometimes perplexity of these conversations that we have in our heads of where there’s no clear answer,” she continues.
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With love myself being the first taste of what’s to come from the reinvented multi-hyphenate, Lindsay will return to the stage to play lead guitar for Shania Twain‘s “Come on Over” international tour and Las Vegas residency as well as host Canada’s highest-rated reality program Canada’s Got Talent for her fourth consecutive season.
As for new music, the 35-year-old promises more singles as well as a full-length later in the year which she says she’s “so excited about.”
“In terms of the vibe, I would explain it as The 1975 meets Maggie Rogers with a little Kacey Musgraves sprinkled in there,” she says of her new sound. I feel like I’ve always had people come up and tell me, ‘Lindsay, we really wish you could have a record that sounds like you sound live,’ and now I feel like I finally have that,” she reveals before confirming that there will definitely be some “good guitar solos” sprinkled throughout.
You can listen to love myself below — don’t forget to let us know what you think of Lindsay’s new music by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecrets.
