Cara Delevingne reflects on 'catalytic' sobriety ahead of musical debut
The multi-talented model recently signed to Warner Music, and is gearing up to release her debut album later this summer - with the first two tracks from the record dropping on Friday.
Cara Delevingne has called sobriety an “amazing catalyst” which helped fuel her music career.
The multi-talented model recently signed to Warner Music, and is gearing up to release her debut album later this summer - with the first two tracks from the record dropping on Friday.
The 33-year-old spoke to Rolling Stone about how quitting drinking in 2022 has changed her life, and how she used the experience of getting sober to inspire her songwriting.
Referring to the tune I Forgot, Cara said it’s about “that kind of arid, raw feeling you get, exposed and unmedicated, just living life for the first time as a sober person”.
She added: “You feel like the danger-seeking behavior or the rebellion is a part of you, but underneath it all is actually this little kid and this innocence.
“Rediscovering that felt scary. Also realizing that you’re not invincible and you can’t continue living a life where you don’t put your health first, whether that be mental or physical.”
Cara is also hoping that the record will help people see a different side of her - not one they have built up through seeing her in magazines and on the catwalk.
She continued: “There was this thing of wanting it to feel like the real me was breaking through the phone, trying to break out of this version of myself that people had known or had preconceived or whatever.
“Which is why having those moments of purity break through that industrial, processed sound felt really good.”
Cara has previously showed off her vocal talents on numerous occasions, including singing on St. Vincent’s track Pills and writing and recording a song on the soundtrack of her 2017 film Valerian.
She also appeared as a guest vocalist on her friend Fiona Apple’s tune Fetch the Bolt Cutters, and now Fiona has returned the favor - working with Cara writing the lyrics for the model’s tune Need It.
Cara explained: ““I wanted to do a song that honored her — honored her impact for me as a person and as an artist. I think without the experience of going in the studio with her, I’d never have felt like I could be myself, a bit like a kid, and not have to act like I know what I’m doing or perform or change myself.”
As for the overall theme of her debut album, Cara concluded: “I wanted this kind of music to feel like pop music in the sense of just getting it to the most ears.
“If anyone can hear it and feel something, that’s all I want.”
