Demi Lovato is in a good place these days. This past May she married the singer-songwriter Jordan “Jutes” Lutes in an idyllic Santa Barbara ceremony that saw Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls perform “Iris” for the couple’s first dance. And when Lovato walked into the studio to work on her ninth album, she found that, instead of continuing down the pop-punk path of her last record, 2022’s Holy Fvck, what she wanted to do was dance.
She knows it’s a shift. When Lovato first announced the album, she teased her fans that she was releasing another documentary—following previous films covering her struggles with addiction and experience as a child star—before revealing its title: It’s Not That Deep. Tracks like “Fast,” “Here All Night,” and “Kiss” proclaim the start of an era primed for the dance floor. Call it Demi 2.0, or Demi XCX, just as long as it makes you move.
On the eve of the album’s release this Friday, I caught up with Lovato about this latest pivot in her life and career, mindfulness, and how everything’s come full circle.
Vogue: I understand that your mood really dictated the sound of the new album. When you went in, you thought it was going to be rock and then life had other plans. Is that true?
Demi Lovato: Yes, that’s very true. I have this tendency to go from one album to the next, and being in that headspace, just coming off of a rock tour, I was like, I wanna continue to make rock music forever. I wanna chase it in the next vibe for the album. But when I got in the studio, I was just in a really good place: very happy and in this relationship which was giving me so much inspiration to write happy music. But there’s only so many happy rock songs that you can write. I just felt like it didn’t fit me energetically anymore. So I changed genres. I actually first went back to R&B and pop, and that didn’t really resonate with me either. But it was my producer Zhone who made a beat in an Uber for the song “Frequency.” It was so new for me, so different. And I was like, Wait, this is really fucking fun—excuse my language. I’m glad because everything that I’ve written has been a reflection of where I’m at today.
I know Kesha played a part in this pivot in a really interesting way. Can you explain how?
Yeah, she did. She’s been a really good friend to me over the years and one day she was in the studio with Zhone and texted me a picture of them together and was like, “You have to get in the studio with this guy, he’s amazing!” And I was like, if it has Kesha’s cosign, I’m totally gonna do that. So she did have a part in making this album, and I’m eternally grateful for that. Zhone also did her song “Joyride,” which I love so much.
From one pop singer to another, that has to be the highest kind of recommendation. And it seems like his sound now fits your vibe?
First of all, I wanted to give credit where credit is due and say that Kesha did not have to lend her producer to me. That is a testament to her character and how beautiful it is when pop girlies come to support one another and just want the best for one another. I wanna really highlight that, because that’s the type of person she is.
There are people in the industry that gatekeep glam people, you know what I’m saying? When I got into the studio with him every day, we laughed so hard. Like, I think the vibes were really right. Not only is he just so talented, but he’s a really great person too.
When during the process did you come up with the album’s title?
Well, it’s a lyric in “Kiss” and I thought it just perfectly summed up the rest of the album, which is that I’m no longer writing from a place of deeply personal issues or about things I’ve been going through. I’ve had the tendency to get stuck in the past when writing music because I draw inspiration from personal experiences. But this album was all about looking forward and living in the moment. And where I’m at in the moment is a really good place, and that needs to be celebrated. I wanted to write an album that was reflective of the mood I’m in and the energy that I have. It turned out that it’s sassy, it’s cheeky, and it’s, like, not that deep.
Would you say that getting married influenced your sound?
My relationship with my husband, Jordan, has been going on for almost three and a half years now, and he’s always been inspiring me. I think “getting married” and his title of “husband” didn’t really change much for me because it felt like we were married for so long already. It’s exciting to now call him my husband, but he’s always been inspiring me and that was a big reason why I didn’t go back to rock music. The place that he put me in was happy and inspired and excited. And I also wanted to go back to my pop era—I haven’t done that in so long. I think I was already dead set on doing pop music, so whether I got married or not, my music would’ve stayed the same.
When, during the process of making a song, do you play it for your husband?
Oh, right away. He’s an artist too, so sometimes I’ll be in the studio and I’ll screenshot the lyrics and send them to him and be like, What do you think about this? I’m really proud of this. Take a look at this! And at the end of the day I always do a little voice note of me in the studio that I play him when I get home. It doesn’t always sound great, but it’s something that shows him what I was working on earlier that day and he’s always so supportive.
What’s one thing you wish you knew going into your wedding?
This is for everyone getting married: Stay present in the moment as much as possible and understand things are not going to go according to plan. That’s just how life is. I’m gonna brag and say mine was picture-perfect—except I did have a mishap with my cake, but it made for a good story. But stay present, have fun, dance, don’t sweat the small stuff. And just remember that this day is about you and your partner. I was actually most nervous to read my vows because I don’t love public speaking. I can get on stage and sing all day, but I was very nervous about my vows and they ended up turning out great.
I know staying present has been a mantra for you, and it’s actually something you’ve been talking a lot about lately. It sounds like you’re all-in on mindfulness. I’m wondering how you got into practicing that state of awareness?
Yeah, I’ve done a lot of therapeutic work in my life. Something I deal with is anxiety, and I have to remember that every time I focus on the future or live in the past, I’m robbing myself of the present moment. There are too many times in my life where I look back and I don’t remember chunks of it because I was so anxious or so regretful of my past. Now I’ve become the type of person that doesn’t really look up at the end of the year and say, “God, I can’t believe it’s almost December already!” It’s like, no, I’ve felt every day this year.
It’s like when you listen to a song. If you were to look at it on a computer, on a program like Logic or Pro Tools or something, you can see the entire thing. But when you’re listening to it, you can only hear the second that’s playing in front of you. And that’s what I wanna do. I wanna live in the second that the music is playing. We can’t try to focus on the big picture when all we have is the now.
Let’s shift back to the music this all manifested, like your single “Kiss.” Its video is all groups of people, well, kissing. Was that set as fun as it seemed?
Yeah, “Kiss” was so much fun to film. I didn’t have to do any of the kissing, so it was a very easy lift for me. It didn’t feel like a workday. I did what I do best besides singing, which is I locked the fuck in. The whole video I’m just staring at the camera, and it’s such a high-paced song that getting to have this subdued energy where I’m just focused on the camera was really interesting. I think there may have been some new couples that walked away from that shoot, I’m not sure. But I had a feeling from some of the conversations I overheard, I was like, Oh, you’re going home together tonight.
That’s a good sign. You also just showed up at a Jonas Brothers concert, where you performed songs you haven’t sung in 15 years. What was that whole experience like for you?
It really blew my mind the amount of people who went so crazy when I stepped out onstage and when we were all together. I think it brought up a lot of nostalgia for a lot of people, and people were so excited. I love being able to provide that for people. I did have to relearn the songs.
Speaking of, you’re executive producing the Camp Rock reboot. Can you tell us anything about that project?
You will have to wait and see! I am very excited for the new generation to lead the way and have their own Camp Rock experience. I think that there are some really talented kids in this film that are hopefully going to have the same iconic moments that the first two Camp Rock movies did. And I’m just really looking forward to seeing them step out on their journey. It was a really sweet moment when I met them and gave them advice about it all.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.