HOLY FVCK by Demi Lovato
Holy Fvck (Stylized in all capitals) is the eighth studio album by American singer Demi Lovato. It was released on August 19, 2022, through Island Records. The album's lead single "Skin of My Teeth" was released on June 10, 2022. In support of the album, Lovato embarked on the Holy Fvck Tour, which commenced on August 13, 2022. The album is a return to her early rock-influenced roots from her first two studio albums Don't Forget (2008) and Here We Go Again (2009). Background Lovato first considered the kind of music she wished to make for her eighth studio album in 2021, following the release of American rock band Dead Sara's album Ain't It Tragic, released that year. She commented that "it reignited this flame inside of me. I was like, "I want to do rock music." I saw them on tour and was super stoked about their music and was just like, "That's what I want to go back to." It felt right to me because I hadn't done it in a while. I wanted to return to my roots." In January 2022, Lovato posted on Instagram that she held a "funeral" for her former pop music, with a picture of Lovato with label and management executives all wearing black and Lovato holding up two middle fingers. This was later clarified to be a music label meeting and the fact everyone was wearing black was simply a coincidence, but Lovato had felt it was symbolic of a change in direction that her music was taking. In the months following this event, Lovato enthusiastically shared various snippets of a more rock sound on her social media, with "crashing guitars, soaring vocals and cutting lyrics". In an interview with Rolling Stone in February 2022, Lovato confirmed a return to "emo-rock" that was "reminiscent of my first era". Lovato clarified, however, that her new studio album would differ from her debut album Don't Forget (2008), in that it has a "heaviness" not lyrically, but "heaviness as in some of the sound that I haven't done before". Lovato also spoke to Inked, confirming her new album is "definitely not R&B or soulful, I would say it's more rock than anything" and that it was inspired by punk rock musicians that Lovato was currently listening to, such as Royal & the Serpent and Turnstile. On Instagram stories in April 2022, the singer confirmed her upcoming album to reflect on "the artist's ups and downs during her personal journey". Lovato further explained, "getting emotional listening to my new album because I'm so proud of it", as well as labeling it her "absolute best yet and so representative of me, where I started and who I am today". At this point, a lead single was just "weeks away" per Lovato's communication with fans. Lovato finally confirmed the lead single would be titled "Skin of My Teeth" on May 23, 2022, indirectly through a short tweet that was responding to fan speculation. A few days later, Lovato officially announced the song's release and shared the cover art for the single. Lovato announced the album with its cover art and release date on June 6, 2022, with a link to her official store where fans can order physical copies of the album. A press release indicated that the album would include 16 tracks and included a statement from Lovato, who shared: "The process of making this album has been the most fulfilling yet, and I'm grateful to my fans and collaborators for being on this journey with me. Never have I been more sure of myself and my music, and this record speaks that for itself. To my Lovatics who have been rocking out with me since the beginning and those who are just now coming along for the ride, thank you. This record is for you." Composition Music and lyrics Holy Fvck is seen to be a sonic shift for Lovato, and has been described as a hard rock album, featuring elements of metal, gothic rock and pop punk. Regarding her decision to revert to a rock-based sound, Lovato said "Back when I worked on Disney Channel, I knew I could go this hard, but it wasn't until recently that I felt like I could accomplish this sound." She further stated "I've had a lot of anger since coming out of treatment. These new songs are about taking the power back and owning my anger — something I pushed aside for years, because I thought it would make me less spiritual." A noted lyrical theme of the album was of a religious undertone, which according to Lovato in an interview with British Vogue "just came out in the writing process. I wanted to take my power back. I grew up in the church as a Christian, and I had some anger towards it. Being queer, I definitely felt like I was misunderstood." In the same interview, Lovato referred to Holy Fvck as her most authentic album to date, and that she was "proud of work" but "it didn't make me happy. There was always this kind of emptiness that I felt, because I was trying to be someone that I wasn't. Now, I identify as non-binary, so when I say, "Would you like me better if I was still her," it's also a reference to people wanting me to stay who they wanted me to be in their eyes." Songs Holy Fvck's opening track "Freak", featuring British singer Yungblud, features "carnivalesque goth-rock guitars and bursts of industrial glam and hardcore, finds Lovato bewailing her status as a "piece of meat" carved up for entertainment" featuring the lyrics "came for the trauma, stayed for the drama". Second track and lead single "Skin of My Teeth" was compared by NPR to the pop rock sound of "Celebrity Skin" by Hole with the vocal affectations of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga; and was praised by Loudwire for tackling addiction, while describing it as having "an immediate sense of urgency, opening with two snare hits and some chord strumming" after which Lovato begins to sing in a sardonic vocal tone. Third track and second single "Substance" was described by Emily Zemler of Rolling Stone as a "raucous", "anthemic pop-punk" song, featuring Lovato singing loudly over guitars and drums inspired by the earlier years of punk music. The lyrics present in the song are a direct criticism of contemporary society, as well as evoking Lovato's previous drug-related problems and mental health problems. "Eat Me", featuring Royal & the Serpent, is the album's fourth track, and was compared by Beaumont to "Muse's more grinding synth-rock" and "swivels the target from herself to the industry that shackled her to their lucrative expectations. "Be more predictable, be less political, not too original, keep the tradition but stay individual," she groans, listing A&R notes before kicking back on a power punk chorus: "I know the girl that you adored, she's dead, it’s time to f***ing mourn… you'll have to eat me as I am." USA Today further compared "Eat Me" to the music of Nine Inch Nails, which sees Lovato and Royal & the Serpent "tiptoe in on a creeping goth vibe before the song explodes into a fireball of anger". The fifth track is the album's title track, with Callie Ahlgrim of Insider calling it "a solid, throaty head-banger", with lyrics of "biblical imagery" which "alludes to sex so good that it feels sacred". Sixth track "29" was described by James Hall of The Telegraph as "a soaring slab of radio-friendly rock", and features lyrics referring to age gaps in relationships, with media speculation that Lovato's ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama is the subject of the song. Seventh track "Happy Ending" was described by Beaumont as "a rousing slab of grunge pop soul-searching" with Lovato confessing that "I miss my vices", "demons are calling and tearing me to shreds". The eighth track "Heaven" is an "industrial goth-rock" song which features a "glam drumbeat" and was likened by Hall to "sound like a mash-up between The Sweet and Megadeth", In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Lovato states that the song's lyrics are "actually based on a Bible verse" further explaining "Matthew 5:30 says, 'If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it's better to lose one part of your body than your entire body to hell.' That was a Bible verse I heard since I was young — too young to know what masturbation was. And now, I have my own sex toys. Masturbation can be a form of self-care, it's not something to be ashamed of at all." "City of Angels" is Holy Fvck's ninth track, and was compared by Beaumont to the music of Avril Lavigne and Blink-182, with sexual innuendo-based lyrics featuring "Lovato imagin "christening" a wide array of Los Angeles landmarks from the Viper Room to Splash Mountain". Tenth track "Bones" was said by Hannah Mylrea of NME to be "a mosh-pit inducing mating call" which incorporates "throbbing Royal Blood riffs and Lovato's purred chorus that begins with the no-nonsense declaration "Let me jump your bones"". "Dead Friends", the thirteenth track, is a "banging pop punk jam session, filled with fast guitars and plenty of double-time drum patterns"; and was said by Lovato in an interview with British Vogue to have originally been "a slower song, but I ended up turning it into a faster one. I wanted to pay homage to the friends that I missed, while keeping it upbeat and a feel-good homage to them." The fifteenth track "Feed" "starts as a piano ballad, cataloging "scars I've caused and scars I've earned," before it bursts into a raw celebration of self-actualization and determination. "I decide which one to feed" becomes a simple yet persuasive mantra in the midst of chaos." "4 Ever 4 Me" is Holy Fvck's sixteenth and final track, a love song which was likened by Olivia Horn of Pitchfork to the music of the Goo Goo Dolls, which "wraps Lovato in acoustic chords and bittersweet strings as they sing to a new partner about wanting to meet his mother".
On Demi Lovato’s eighth studio album, catharsis comes from recovery, from exorcising demons and excising trauma—and there’s no better avenue for that then a sick guitar lick. <i>HOLY FVCK</i> is stacked with ascendent pop-punk (“SUBSTANCE”), grunge-y anthemic rock (“SKIN OF MY TEETH”), biblical references (“HEAVEN”) and diaristic revelations about inappropriate sexual relationships (“29”). “My biggest hope for [the] song [‘29’] is that others going through a similar experience know they aren’t alone,” they tell Apple Music. “And that it’s time to take our power back.” The sentiment doubles as a mission statement: This is the sound of a young artist claiming autonomy. At the beginning of their career, Lovato made playful pop-punk under Disney’s Hollywood Records label, starting with 2008’s debut, <i>Don’t Forget</i>. Echoes of that can be found on this release, but comparatively, it’s child’s play: Lovato has never sounded harder, or wiser, than they do on <i>HOLY FVCK</i>, so turn it up loud. Below, read a track-by-track guide to the album Lovato wrote exclusively for Apple Music. <b>“FREAK”</b> “This song is about feeling like you don’t belong but owning it anyway, because it doesn’t matter what others think about you. By acknowledging that you are a freak or outcast, you are basically saying that there is nothing anyone can say that will hurt your feelings. I wrote this song with YUNGBLUD while I was in an angry phase, but it turns out that I am proud of it. I am giving myself the power back.” <b>“SKIN OF MY TEETH”</b> “I wanted to make an anthem for people in recovery from addiction. I wanted to humanise the disease for people who’ve never experienced it and don’t understand it. That’s partly why I get so detailed about it in the bridge, which is my favourite part of the song: [I sing] ‘I am just trying to keep my head above water/I am your son, and I am your daughter/I’m your mother, I’m your father.’ It is making a statement about how I am just like everyone who suffers from addiction. We’re all the same. It was so cathartic for me because I had just come out of treatment again. I wanted to make a statement of saying, ‘I see what you’re saying, this is what I’m going through, and you’re not going to make me feel bad about it.’” <b>“SUBSTANCE”</b> “I wanted to make a point about how we live in a world where nothing feels real anymore. The content we intake, the things we do in our day-to-day lives, so much of it lacks substance. We’re always on our phones and the internet, so I wanted to write a song about how I miss the substance that used to be the world we live in. Some of the lyrics that resonate with me would be in the pre-chorus: ‘Whoa, I know we’re all fucking exhausted.’ We’re all still coming out of COVID, which is a time where we all live off of TV, social media, whatever could distract us on our phones. I know we’re all exhausted with it. And ‘Am I in my head or have we all lost it?’ is asking if we have lost the substance in human-to-human connection and the ability to be fully present in the moment. The writing process for this was so effortless, and my co-writers were so amazing.” <b>“EAT ME”</b> “Being able to collaborate with Royal & the Serpent on this song was so amazing and exciting. I am sick of people thinking or talking about me in a certain way that isn’t truthful, and I am done letting it affect me and my life. Coming out as non-binary was a way for me to let people know that I am not the person that everyone wants me to be, but rather, the person I am. My hope is that this song will help others feel more comfortable with their identity, and to not feel ashamed of how others may perceive them.” <b>“HOLY FVCK”</b> “This is the title track of the album, and the whole album has this feel of good versus evil, with some religious undertones. Even the title fits that theme, with <i>holy</i> being good and <i>fuck</i> being bad. It’s a very sexually charged song, and I wanted to flip the phrase on its head to ‘I’m a holy fuck.’ In the studio, I was very much like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m singing this!’” <b>“29”</b> “Now that I am older, I have had a lot of time to reflect and think about past experiences I have had in my life, whether that be romantically or not. Writing this song allowed me to express my thoughts in a way that I hadn’t before, and turn it into something special. Everyone that wrote this song with me knew that the goal was to help others, and I think we did an excellent job of that.” <b>“HAPPY ENDING”</b> “I fell into a hopeless depression that had me asking myself if I will ever find a happy ending before I die. The most honest lyric I’ve ever written is actually in this song: ‘I got high/You name it, have tried it/Sure, I’m sober now and everybody’s proud, but I miss my vices.’ My hope for this song is that people will listen to it and realise that they are not alone. Writing this song was obviously very emotional, but it was very freeing because I was able to express these dark times and concerns I’ve had—and coming out of it in the end in a new light.” <b>“HEAVEN”</b> “There’s actually a Bible verse, Matthew 5:30, that says, ‘If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, because it’s better to lose one part of your body than your entire body to hell.’ It’s actually about masturbation, and people may not know that I have my own sex toy. I’m very open about my sexuality, and growing up I was shamed by my church in Texas for exploring that. I was in a place where I was angry, and I had just learned a lot about myself. I learned about what caused that anger and I learned to honour my anger in treatment. I wanted to write a song that takes back my power and my sexuality from the way religion was used against me. I love the pre-chorus where it repeats, ‘Cut it off!’ because unless you know the Bible verse behind the song, you’re like, ‘What?’ And then, of course, the chorus—‘Going to hell because it feels like heaven.’ An Easter egg you can look out for on the vinyl packaging is I have ‘Matthew 5:30’ printed on the side, which is a nod to this song.” <b>“CITY OF ANGELS”</b> “The first line of this song says it all. I’ve lived in [Los Angeles] for 15 years and it seems as though everything is old and boring. I wrote this song about wanting to experience new things in the city of LA, as if it was brand new. This is definitely a sexual song, but it’s written through using a ton of puns. A great example of this is ‘Splash Mountain from your hands at Disneyland.’ I’d love to christen this city as if it was brand new.” <b>“BONES”</b> “I had such a good time writing this song because I was at my house, with my friends, just having a good time. This song is about being so attracted to someone the first time you see them that you physically want to jump on them. My favourite line from this song is ‘Blood racing, heart pounding, like there’s a fucking earthquake’ because it really depicts the feeling of craving someone so badly, but you have to resist.” <b>“WASTED”</b> “It’s not a secret that I’ve struggled with addiction and drugs, so I wanted to write a song that’s about how there’s no high greater than the high of falling in love. The best high of your life is the high you get from someone else. Specific lyrics that are so real to me are ‘Will my heart stop, will I withdraw?/Can I detox if the shoe drops?/I’m wiser, I’m older, I’m clean and I’m sober, so I can’t figure out how I’m wasted.’ I remember the first time I tried certain drugs, and I was like, ‘Whoa, what is this going to be like?’ That’s kind of like falling in love with someone you know will change your life. You’re totally wasted on love—you feel totally euphoric and so happy.” <b>“COME TOGETHER”</b> “If you listen closely to the lyrics of this song, you will realise this is actually not a song just about unifying and joining together as one. Much like many other songs on this album, this is a very sexually focused track. My favourite line has to be ‘Got me closer to the edge than ever/We both want it, but we don’t surrender/And we can make this last forever/But paradise is even better when we come…together.’ The hook of this song flows very well together, and I think it is open-ended in the way that you can perceive it however you want to.” <b>“DEAD FRIENDS”</b> “This song is a way for me to reminisce on the hard times that I’ve been through in my life and how I’ve lost friends along the way. The beginning of the song is very calm and slow, but as the song progresses you will notice that it picks up the tempo and the mood. I think this is a way to represent how although it’s a sad message, I am actually honouring my friends and the times we had together. I lost a friend that went through similar struggles that I’ve had on the same day that I wrote this song, which gives it even more of a special meaning to me.” <b>“HELP ME”</b> “This was a song I wrote with Dead Sara on the very first day we worked together. I wanted to write a song that was a clapback to people on the internet who think they know what’s best for me, and make an empowering anthem out of that. I think my favourite lines are ‘Hey, thank you for your useless information/Hey, never satisfied with my explanation/Hey, what’s with your desperate fascination?/Hey, thank you for your useless information.’ I was so excited to write this with Dead Sara because they were such a huge influence for the sound of this album. I fell in love with the album they released last year, and I saw them live. They’ve become great friends of mine, especially Emily [Armstrong], the lead singer. Getting to see them work their magic at the show was the catalyst for me getting back to my rock roots.” <b>“FEED”</b> “The message of this song is that there are two sides inside of you, which represent the good and the bad, the positive and the negative. This song is a reminder that you are in control of your life and each side will make you feel a different way, so it’s up to you to choose which direction you want to go.” <b>“4 EVER 4 ME”</b> “The songs at the beginning of the album show how angry and sad I once was, but as you get towards the end, you realise that I’ve been through a rollercoaster of a life and there is joy at the end. I got to write this song with one of my best friends, which makes it even more special. One of my favourite lines of this song is ‘I can’t wait to hug and thank your mother,’ because I think it’s important to acknowledge those who raised and taught the person you love how to be an amazing person. I don’t write a ton of love songs, but I think that this song really encompasses the hopefulness of love and how sappy I can actually be.”
