Going viral on TikTok for her original songs, signing a record deal and releasing her debut album all in the span of less than two years sounds like a dream come true. ForLauren Spencer Smith, it was a bit more complicated than that.“I feel like making the album has only had challenges at this point,” she tells PEOPLE ofMirror, the 15-track debut that dropped on July 14.Between adjusting to having so many more people involved in the music-making process, to the difficulty of actually choosing and finalizing what made the album’s final cut, the process was “so stressful” for Spencer Smith.“That last stretch of the album was like — I just feel like I put myself through all this stuff for absolutely no reason,” she says.Lauren Spencer Smith.Sam DameshekIt was late 2021 that saw Spencer Smith first findviral successon TikTok with her heartbreaking ballad “Fingers Crossed.” She released it — her first-ever single — in January 2022, and followed it up with yet another viral hit that April,“Flowers.”She was riding a high for awhile, but the crash came soon after.“You probably caught me just before my depression,” she says, referring to thelast time she spoke to PEOPLEin April 2022, a few days before “Flowers” dropped. “I was still in the, ‘Wow! Everything’s so great! This is my first time doing promo!’ And then, probably a month after ‘Flowers’ onwards, it was just downhill. I didn’t know what was happening.”Now, the 19-year-old singer-songwriter is in a much better place, and having her album out in the world feels like a weight off her chest. But there were patches of time in between then and now that saw her question whether she’d even be releasing the album at all.“It’s just crazy,” she says. “There’s so many moving parts that you never realized when making an album that delay everything.”Lauren Spencer Smith.Sam DameshekTowards the end of the album-making process, in early 2023, Spencer Smith was at an all-time low.“I had so much going on in my personal life,” she says. “I was so depressed. I’ve never felt worse about my life or myself.”Despite her plan to relocate to Los Angeles in early 2022, she ultimately decided against the move as so much of her life was changing.“I was like, ‘I’m moving to L.A., I don’t give a s— what anyone says.’ And then ‘Fingers Crossed’ blew up and I was like, ‘I do not want to live in L.A. I don’t know what I would do. I think I need to be here. I need to be grounded. I need to be with my people — this is so crazy.’”Lauren Spencer Smith.Sam DameshekIt was a “stressful” time as Spencer Smith found herself caught up in the more bureaucratic side of making and releasing a record — a side she had never seen before.“There were just so many opinions,” she says of working with an expanded team to write, mix and produce the album’s 15 tracks. For a girl who was used to writing songs at home and recording them on her own, it was a big change.“Before, when I did music, it was honestly just me and the producer,” she says.Now, there’s many more points of view to consider — “It’s not just my intuition of an opinion anymore," Spencer Smith explains.Lauren Spencer Smith.lauren spencer smith/insatgramSince announcingMirror’srelease, though, and digging her heels into promoting it, things have gotten better for the formerAmerican Idolcontestant. She just embarked on her biggest headlining tour yet and will be hitting cities across the country between July and August.In September, she’ll set her sights on Europe and bring the Mirror Tour abroad.The tour is the first time she’s performing songs “that I’m proud of and that I love so much,” she tells PEOPLE.“Every song I love and I connect with it and I’m so happy the way it came out,” she says, noting the difference between this tour and her last one lies in her finally having “a cohesive project that I’m proud of” to perform.“I think it’s going to be a very different and more fun experience.”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.Though she likes her setlist more this time around, Spencer Smith still has some regrets — namely, how high in range so many of her hits are.“I just keep writing songs that are like the highest f—ing range ever,” she jokes, calling them “the most difficult” kinds of songs to perform.She adds, “I wish I had a [few] more up-tempo tracks, because it’s easier to be flat and have a good time, but I’m like — you can’t sing bad when you’re a ballad singer.”
Going viral on TikTok for her original songs, signing a record deal and releasing her debut album all in the span of less than two years sounds like a dream come true. ForLauren Spencer Smith, it was a bit more complicated than that.
“I feel like making the album has only had challenges at this point,” she tells PEOPLE ofMirror, the 15-track debut that dropped on July 14.
Between adjusting to having so many more people involved in the music-making process, to the difficulty of actually choosing and finalizing what made the album’s final cut, the process was “so stressful” for Spencer Smith.
“That last stretch of the album was like — I just feel like I put myself through all this stuff for absolutely no reason,” she says.
Lauren Spencer Smith.Sam Dameshek
Sam Dameshek
It was late 2021 that saw Spencer Smith first findviral successon TikTok with her heartbreaking ballad “Fingers Crossed.” She released it — her first-ever single — in January 2022, and followed it up with yet another viral hit that April,“Flowers.”She was riding a high for awhile, but the crash came soon after.
“You probably caught me just before my depression,” she says, referring to thelast time she spoke to PEOPLEin April 2022, a few days before “Flowers” dropped. “I was still in the, ‘Wow! Everything’s so great! This is my first time doing promo!’ And then, probably a month after ‘Flowers’ onwards, it was just downhill. I didn’t know what was happening.”
Now, the 19-year-old singer-songwriter is in a much better place, and having her album out in the world feels like a weight off her chest. But there were patches of time in between then and now that saw her question whether she’d even be releasing the album at all.
“It’s just crazy,” she says. “There’s so many moving parts that you never realized when making an album that delay everything.”
Towards the end of the album-making process, in early 2023, Spencer Smith was at an all-time low.
“I had so much going on in my personal life,” she says. “I was so depressed. I’ve never felt worse about my life or myself.”
Despite her plan to relocate to Los Angeles in early 2022, she ultimately decided against the move as so much of her life was changing.
“I was like, ‘I’m moving to L.A., I don’t give a s— what anyone says.’ And then ‘Fingers Crossed’ blew up and I was like, ‘I do not want to live in L.A. I don’t know what I would do. I think I need to be here. I need to be grounded. I need to be with my people — this is so crazy.’”
It was a “stressful” time as Spencer Smith found herself caught up in the more bureaucratic side of making and releasing a record — a side she had never seen before.
“There were just so many opinions,” she says of working with an expanded team to write, mix and produce the album’s 15 tracks. For a girl who was used to writing songs at home and recording them on her own, it was a big change.
“Before, when I did music, it was honestly just me and the producer,” she says.
Now, there’s many more points of view to consider — “It’s not just my intuition of an opinion anymore," Spencer Smith explains.
Lauren Spencer Smith.lauren spencer smith/insatgram
lauren spencer smith/insatgram
Since announcingMirror’srelease, though, and digging her heels into promoting it, things have gotten better for the formerAmerican Idolcontestant. She just embarked on her biggest headlining tour yet and will be hitting cities across the country between July and August.
In September, she’ll set her sights on Europe and bring the Mirror Tour abroad.
The tour is the first time she’s performing songs “that I’m proud of and that I love so much,” she tells PEOPLE.
“Every song I love and I connect with it and I’m so happy the way it came out,” she says, noting the difference between this tour and her last one lies in her finally having “a cohesive project that I’m proud of” to perform.
“I think it’s going to be a very different and more fun experience.”
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.
Though she likes her setlist more this time around, Spencer Smith still has some regrets — namely, how high in range so many of her hits are.
“I just keep writing songs that are like the highest f—ing range ever,” she jokes, calling them “the most difficult” kinds of songs to perform.
She adds, “I wish I had a [few] more up-tempo tracks, because it’s easier to be flat and have a good time, but I’m like — you can’t sing bad when you’re a ballad singer.”
source: people.com
