Danielle Bradbery Reveals ‘Never Have I Ever’ Sets The Tone For A ‘New Phase’ Of Her Music
With her newest single, 'Never Have I Ever,' officially at country radio, Danielle Bradbery dished to HL all about how the song will be indicative of more new music to come!
Danielle Bradbery sings about falling in love for the first time on her new song, “Never Have I Ever,” which she released earlier this year. The song takes her in quite a different direction from her 2017 album, I Don’t Believe We’ve Met, where she detailed the end of a “toxic relationship.” With “Never Have I Ever,” she’s ready to embark on a new era of music like we’ve never heard from her before.
“[After my last record], I took the time in between to just grow up and get out of [my relationship] and go into a new relationship — one that is really healthy,” Danielle explained to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “”Never Have I Ever” just fit perfect for a new phase of my life. Sonically, it sounds a little more brave, too. I’m putting a little bit more of R&B in it, along with country, which is something I haven’t really done too much. So putting out “Never Have I Ever” is kind of a new phase of my music. I’m really excited to see what this direction of music is for me.”
Danielle Bradbery poses for a photo shoot in promotion of her song “Never Have I Ever.” (Peter Zavadil)
For now, Danielle is letting “Never Have I Ever” marinate with her fans and radio listeners, but it’s just the start of more new music to come. “I’m definitely working on a lot more,” she revealed. “This song is kind of a hint of more of a braver sound. I’m still going to be super vulnerable and honest and I’m just super excited to show people what I’ve been working on. I’ve been writing constantly and putting my vocal on songs and just trying to narrow down a perfect group of songs. As soon as we get a date or whatever is next, we’ll definitely be letting you all know!”
Danielle Bradbery’s cover art for her single, “Never Have I Ever.” (Courtesy of BMLG Records)
Will you be heavily involved in the songwriting process for more new music to come? For the most part, I love being part of the writing process. One, because it’s my story and it’s something I want to make sure that’s really true and honest to me. I want to make sure that, with the songs that I’m singing, people can hear me sing it and feel the true story behind it.
But when it comes outside songs that I wasn’t part of writing, I’m still super okay with that, too! I just need to find songs that I truly relate to and make them my own, which I have no problem doing. There’s some of those in there too. I just love getting to share my true honest words.
Why was it important for you to put out “Never Have I Ever” despite the world being on lockdown? [Having social media] to be able to stay connected and talk to fans and show everybody what’s going on in my daily life made me feel more comfortable releasing something during a time like this. I haven’t had music out in a while, and we’ve been sitting on “Never Have I Ever” for a while. We just have all liked the song a lot and felt like it was the perfect song to come out of the woodworks with. It was also just a little bit of wanting to show my fans that I’m still here and still working on music — and give them something to listen to during quarantine!
What was it like shooting a socially distanced music video for the song?It was super different from what our normal videos are usually like. We just took it one step at a time. We found a director in Austin, so we drove there, hung out and found this beautiful ranch there. There were about five people on set, when there’s usually a lot more, so that was one big difference.
The director was doing, like, five things at once. Everybody had masks and gloves on, being super careful, even though it was super hot. We made sure of that. Obviously a lot of things that we hadn’t dealt with before came up, so we were just being there for each other and being a big help for each other. We also didn’t have a glam person so my mom stepped in to be my hair and makeup girl and she did such a good job. It was a lot of firsts, but an experience I’ll never forget. It turned out to be awesome and I’m super proud of it.”
You got your start in country music by winning ‘The Voice.’ What have you taken with you from the show as your career has continued? I was such a baby on the show — 16 years old! I feel like a part of being so young meant I was also able to soak in so much, and that’s exactly what I did. I was able to learn how to do interviews and be in front of the camera, and just get used to working the stage and being on the spot. Every single one of those things, I’ve taken with me into what I do now. It was almost like a little bit of a music bootcamp for me. I really appreciate everything I did on that show and I truly did learn so much.
