Kim Petras.Photo: Pierre Suu/Getty Images
Kim Petrasis ready to release new music and couldn’t be more excited about her latest body of work.
Detailing that it is her first album since she signed with Republic Records earlier this year, Petras tells PEOPLE exclusively, “I’m very excited because I’ve been an independent artist this whole time, so this is my first official debut album. All those songs that I’ve done before this were just a warm-up.”
“I feel very passionate about this album, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted to make — it’s extreme pop music, which I love,” she continues. “I feel like I’m now brave enough to do outrageous songs that I never thought I could do, songs that I was kind of limiting myself from.”
“During the[COVID-19] pandemicand during lockdown, I just reminded myself what I wanted to do, — pop music, which, to me, is the ultimate escape from everything,” the German-born crooner adds about the genre’s impact on the album. “I can put on my headphones and put on a great pop song and just forget about my problems or heartbreak or any of those things, and that’s what I want to do for people.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Petras' forthcoming LP — which has yet to be given a formal title or release date — follows after the singer broke into mainstream success when she released a slew of bubbly and pop-centric singles in recent years, including “I Don’t Want It at All” and “Hillside Boys,” as well as her staple anthem “Heart to Break.”
Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.
That same year, Petras also released herTurn Off the Lightalbum in October, which served as a Halloween-themed compilation. The project was originally announced as the EPTurn Off the Light, Vol. 2, the sequel to Petras' 2018 EPTurn Off the Light, Vol. 1., and features songs such as “There Will Be Blood” and “Everybody Dies.”
Kim Petras.Burak Cingi/Redferns
“‘Future Starts Now’ I love, and that’s the song that came up first, but I think there’s a lot more sides to this album that I’m excited to explore,” the musician tells PEOPLE. “I’m not someone who just likes to fit into anything, so I’m definitely pulling out all the tricks that I got up my sleeve. It’s gonna be pretty powerful.”
And though the EMAs will be taking place in Hungary, a country that has been subject to recent anti-LGBTQ+ laws, Petras says she is “proud” to be a transgender artist and wants “torepresent what I’m all about.”
source: people.com
