Inside Hozier's 'Unreal Unearth': How The Singer Flipped Dante's 'Inferno' & The Irish Language Into His Latest Album | GRAMMY.com

Like many, Hozier used his lockdown time to dive into some literature. Little did he know, it would inspire his third album.

In Unreal Unearth, which arrived Aug. 18, Hozier muses about his pandemic experience through the lens of Dante Alighieri's famous poem Inferno. Part one of the 14th-century epic Divine Comedy, the poem narrates Dante's journey through Hell and its depicted nine circles — an eerily brilliant framework for an album.

"I didn't want to write songs that were about a lockdown; I didn't want to write songs that were about the pandemic," Hozier tells GRAMMY.com. "But I did want to explore — or at least acknowledge, even as a nod structurally — this feeling of going into something, these new circumstances and experiences in that time and coming out the other side of it." 

Born Andrew Hozier-Byrne, Hozier has always been an artist with an intellectual approach; he referenced Irish poet Seamus Heaney on his second album, 2019's Wasteland, Baby!, and Biblical and Celtic contexts on his 2014 self-titled debut.

But Unreal Unearth felt different for him. "[There's] a more announced intention of a thread in the structure," he says, adding that he tapped into two new territories: collaboration and deeper plumbing of his Irish roots.

The trio of facets helped Hozier create an album that fits right in with the deeply thoughtful lyricism and beautifully layered soundscapes of his previous releases, but with a sense of reinvigoration. Its journey from the darkness of opening track "De Selby (Part 1)" to the breakthrough of closer "First Light" creates a captivating tale that only a voice like Hozier's could narrate.

Below, hear from Hozier about three of his biggest inspirations for Unreal Unearth, and how it all resulted in a project that opened a new creative door for the Irish star.

There was some old poetry — and I mean, like, old, classic poetry — that, as a lyricist, I always wanted to explore. Then the pandemic happened, and offered so much free time. I was working on other songs [at the time], and I put a lot of those ideas aside.

In March 2020, it felt like the world changed, and priorities changed, and my priorities changed with it. And there was some lines in [Inferno] that resonated with me at the time. It just felt like there was a great deal of potential loss hanging in the air.

Early in that poem [is] that sort of famous quote that Dante imagines is written over the door of hell — you know, that "Abandon all hope" line. There's a larger passage that says "through me, you enter into the population of loss."

As a structure, I did want to acknowledge something in my experiences of [that] two, three year period, and what I was processing. I [wanted] to find a way that nods to that, and the significance of that — albeit, not necessarily in a way that was a lockdown album or a pandemic album, or songs that focus on the nuances of that experience, but at least acknowledge the journey. And it's taking the structure of that journey as imagined by Dante, these Nine Circles he walks through and then he comes out the other side.

I kind of viewed the last album as all these same voices sort of singing or screaming into the same bonfire, all from different perspectives. That's something that I wanted, in particular, to explore in this album — that each Circle is a slightly different voice. It deals with a slightly different theme, in a playful way, sometimes. 

[Dante's Inferno] is a poem about a person who's wandering through this sort of underworld space, and in each Circle, they meet with a new person who shares their grievance, their pain, their experience. That was something I allowed myself to play with a little bit — that each song starts with my voice, but it allows into itself and the license to just let the song grow to where it needs to be. Let the voice explore the idea that it needs to explore.

Something that I had hoped to achieve with these is that the songs come from a personal place, and a very real place, but I also wanted them to explore, at times, things that were kind of mythological in nature, or were collectively held fictions. Like in the case of "Francesca," who is a character in Dante's Inferno [Second Circle, Lust], and she's not a terribly famous character from literature, but it's definitely a significant moment in that poem.

It's a song that I wrote for somebody in a difficult moment and was finding a lot of themes with that character. I just resonated with a lot of stuff in her story. This fictional idea that there is this woman who is being punished in Hell for falling in love. 

The [ending] lyric is "Heaven is not fit to house a love like you and I, I would not change it each time." The song is basically saying this isn't a punishment, I would make this decision time and time again. I don't regret or repent anything." [I tried to] explore that and sort of turn that punishment on its head, and write from an empathetic point of view of some of the characters in that poem.

So it's song by song, and depending on where the theme is — like, "First Time" plays with Limbo, this idea of this never ending thing that cycles. That song explores this kind of birth and the sort of death and ending at the end of a relationship where everything feels like it's collapsing around you, and it being the start of the next thing.

Then "Eat Your Young," Circle of Greed, it reflects upon how the real destruction in a global sense, in a larger sense, is not done. It reflects on being young, that sort of coming-of-age feeling of just being free and powerless, but having fun and enjoying the little things that you can enjoy, and how every generation will always blame the younger generation for our coming destruction in some way — some very imaginative, funny way. The Circle of Violence, "Butchered Tongue" looks back at sort of historical violence, colonial violence, and the destruction of language that comes out of it.

It was just finding the sympathy between "Okay, here's this theme, and here's these elements of the song. And there is personal experience, but at the same time, I'm nodding to and playing with the images found in either myths of characters that are dead — so Icarus, who dies at the end of his myth; De Selby is a fictional character in a book about a man who doesn't know that he's dead; Francesca, Dante includes her into population of Hell. 

"Son of Nyx" is named after Alex Ryan, who co-wrote that song with me, his father's name is Nick, so Alex is technically a son of Nick's. Nyx is a Greek goddess of nighttime — so again, reflecting on darkness — and a son of Nyx in the Greek stable is the boatman or the ferryman, Charon, who ferries everybody over the river. The song has a life above ground and below ground, and trying to find that sympathy points between the two.

It was also important to me that you can just listen to the songs and know nothing about this and be able to say "That sounds beautiful," or "There is something in that that is universal." These themes are universal — the theme of lust is universal, the theme of loss, and betrayal, and being hurt by somebody is universal. We love and listen to and write these songs every single day. But creating the album in this structure and arranging the themes in sympathy with the circles as Dante imagined it was something I really wanted to do.

It's important to me that these songs just feel good. That they exist on their own terms in a way that I felt was worthwhile and beautiful enough to exist on their own too.

I will say I struggled with where the line was with how tightly to hold the poem. There's an early version of "Francesca" which I tried to write using the same rhyming scheme that Dante uses in the poem — he invented a rhyming scheme called terza rima. He was kind of obsessed with this idea of Trinity, he invents this interlocking triplet thing, which is like, really, really hard to write in English. 

Somewhere early in the album [process], I realized the more I referenced the text and the poem directly, the less universal it is, the less open it is, and it becomes, like, a history lesson. And actually, it became like musical theater as well too, because it was like referencing these moments in this journey, as opposed to just exploring moments in the journey of life that we all experience. So these feelings of betrayal, these feelings of disillusionment, and loneliness or love.

There's all sorts of reasons [I used the Irish language on this album]. I mean, part of it was being at home for the year for those years, and reassessing my place at home during that pandemic period.

But, ultimately, the Irish language is a language that a lot of us in Ireland like study for 12 years, and I guess I just got to this point where it's like I had this entire palette of mouth sounds, this entire palette of words, this whole language that was in my vocabulary — it's kind of like a bunch of tools hanging on the wall at home that I just never used.

An example of that is uiscefhuaraithe, which is described in "To Someone From A Warm Climate" as the cooling action of water. It just seemed right. It's like why not use these tools? It's like all these paints that I just never painted with. 

"Butchered Tongue" explores the sort of experience of traveling around the world with the Irish view of history, or with a view of history and global politics that's informed by the Irish experience or my Irish experience, and my understanding of Irish history.

I [channeled] the playfulness of the Irish language on a song called "Anything But." On paper, it reads like a kindness. The verses are saying, "If I was a riptide, I wouldn't take you out." The second verse says, "If I was a stampede, you wouldn't you wouldn't get a kick." These are all Irish-isms that I heard as a teenager growing up. They're nice ways of saying that somebody wants nothing to do with you. So that's where that double meaning sort of thing comes in. They're all they're all Irish-isms, fun idioms.

I'd written many songs — actually, the majority of the songs from my first two albums — I just wrote everything myself. Writing for me was always a very solitary thing. And then I sort of found the limitations of what solitude and writing in solitude would give me towards the end of lockdown. I'd written a bunch of ideas. I've gotten a lot of ideas out of my pockets and out of my head, and then I kind of got into LA.

I'd never worked with Dan Tannenbaum, who's done a lot of stuff with Kendrick Lamar. [He's an] incredible producer and his team, Pete Gonzales and Daniel Krieger, and this fantastic team of guys are all incredible musicians. Our first day of jamming, I honestly thought that we were going to hang out for a talk, and we were just going to get to know each other. And then he sort of threw a microphone in my hand and was like, "Let's make some music." 

So for the first time I just jammed. We just jammed music together and would create these soundscapes. I knew that I wanted to explore classic synthesizer sounds and some more electronic sounds, but marry them to organic acoustic sounds, like in the case of "De Selby (Part 1)," or in "First Light" or in "Anything But."

Part of that was also just creating with musicians that I've never created with before, and then knowing where the line was of what felt right to me, and not a diversion, but an exploration and an expansion. It was just trusting the skills of these great producers and their great musicianship, and just creating for the sake of creating and seeing what came out of it. It was really enriching and super exciting, because it was a new way of writing for me.

With Jen Decilveo and Jeff Gitty [Gitelman], two other fantastic producers across the album, I was recording a few songs with Jen separately, I was recording a few songs with Jeff. So I became the sort of central point of making sure that these songs would all work together as an arc. 

I tried to do something which I thought was going to be a fun and interesting challenge, and I feel like I did that as best I could. I gained all these wonderful skills of collaborating, and also being the central point of like trying to hold a lot of spinning plates with different producers and make everything work in a cohesive way and just being that one central point between a lot of creative minds. So I'm proud of it. And I'm excited to explore those skills again.

Jon Batiste's 'World Music Radio': How The GRAMMY Winner Picked Up Signals From The Four Corners Of The Earth

Most visitors to The Huntington —  one of the world’s most revered educational libraries and museums, and home to over 100 acres of botanical gardens — aren’t allowed to explore the landscape in the dead of night in a golf cart. Lucy Dacus and her band, however, were given a free pass to unwind and wander after being on stage. 

The stillness almost worked against the effort to bring down her accumulated adrenaline. "It was so eerie," Dacus tells GRAMMY.com from her home in Los Angeles the following morning. "It was absolutely a place you’d see a ghost."

The sprawling San Marino, California estate was the final location of a quartet of secret shows that occurred in late February, each performed for a few hundred people in venues unaccustomed to performances of pop music. With just an acoustic guitar and two accompanying instrumentalists, Dacus previewed songs from her fourth full-length album, Forever Is A Feeling.

Though Dacus strives for all her shows to feel special, momentous or "this one-of-one unrepeatable aspect," the deliberate choice of these spaces (including Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, the Driehaus Museum in Chicago, and the Legion of Honor in San Francisco) drew some not-so-subtle inspiration from her new record. Forever Is A Feeling infuses classical influences — such as the baroque and romantic artistic movements, and stringed chamber music — with Dacus' own modern indie folk sensibility, ornamented vocals, and lyrical intimacy.

The small shows became a grounding experience for an artist whose life achieved a new kind of irreplicable scale recently. The singer and songwriter spent the better part of 2023 and early 2024 as part of boygenius, the indie rock supergroup that she and fellow songwriters Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers formed out of the bonds of their genuine friendship and complimentary musical strengths.

Read more: The Sound Of Collision: Boygenius Discuss Creating 'The Rest,' Their Deepening Friendship & Identities

Already considered to be generational artists on their own, boygenius became a cultural force of nature. The supergroup were the subject of significant industry discourse, appeared on "SNL," and embarked on a sold-out arena tour that catered to thousands of concertgoers on a nightly basis. Their debut LP, the record,  hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and netted three golden gramophones (Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance) at the 2024 GRAMMYs. The record was also nominated for Album Of The Year.  

When boygenius’ name was announced for their first win of the night, Dacus was caught by the cameras literally running down the aisle to get to the stage as quickly as possible, with Baker and Bridgers in close pursuit. "I didn’t even realize I was the one that started running," recalls Dacus. "It was unbelievable in the moment. I think I might have blacked out. Phoebe and Julien often made me do the speeches because Phoebe hates doing speeches and Julien gets nervous. I think I said, ‘This doesn’t feel real,’ which is true."

By the time boygenius announced an indefinite hiatus to focus on solo endeavors, Dacus had already written half of what would become Forever Is A Feeling. "Having a couple of things going at once is what makes sense to me," explains Dacus. "Whenever I’ve put out a record I have at least half a record already written. It kind of helps me know that I’m not done. I think that if I put out a record and I had zero songs [for the next] I would have an absolute crisis."

Dacus’ last solo album, 2021’s Home Video, was an intimate, personal history, knitting together narratives from her own detailed accounts as a lifelong diarist and perspective as a young woman. Forever Is A Feeling reflects a far more present perspective, one that coincided with a greater internal honesty. "I have a reputation amongst my friends to be the person that starts the hard conversation," Daucus says. "Honesty is often painful, but I’ve never regretted being honest to other people. But I was realizing that I wasn’t being honest with myself."

Giving this newfound honesty shape and form, Dacus essentially presents Forever Is A Feeling as her own treatise on love: The anticipation of it; its physicality and comfort; the way it can ruin and hollow you out; the actions it convinces you to commit; the person you want to become to earn it; that there’s something to gain from all its facets. "I’m saying things super up-front," says Dacus. "They’re not super cloaked."

Perhaps the most acute demonstration of this forthrightness is "Best Guess." While Dacus is queer, she says she deliberately used ambiguous pronouns in her  work to allow listeners to live in the songs in a way that is accurate to their own lives. "Best Guess" breaks this self-imposed rule for the first time with the lines such as "clasping your necklace / zipping your dress" and "you may not be an angel / but you are my girl."

"I have never wanted people to be interested in my love life. But I am interested in talking about love in general, so that includes my love life in a life of love," she says. Dacus confesses that she doesn’t rank the types of love that she feels, but their interconnectedness is part of why she now feels comfortable talking about such a personal topic.

To ensure that the instrumental arrangements matched her lyrical vulnerability, Dacus tapped producer/composer and previous collaborator Blake Mills. Forever Is A Feeling was recorded in great part at L.A.'s Sound City, where Mills works, and the space was large enough to record a full band live. "Me singing and everyone playing at the same time I think is why the songs feel as good as they do. I think you can react instinctually to each other a little more accurately," she says, noting that one of her goals was to try many different things during each recording session.

For every tried and true approach, Dacus implemented new musical languages. For every familiar inclusion of someone from her past — Bridgers and Baker provide back vocals ("Modigliani," "Forever Is A Feeling," "Most Wanted Man"), Jay Som’s Melina Duterte is on synths and bass ("Forever Is A Feeling," "Best Guess"), Collin Pastore and Jake Finch offered additional engineering and production work —  there were new components. Among these novel additions were the elegant string and piano work of Phoenix Rousiamanis and a duet vocal with Hozier. 

Much like her previous records, Dacus says the making of Forever Is A Feeling felt less like the building of a house and more like fishing. Rather than building brick by brick, she paid attention, waited, and moving subtly in the hope she'd have some luck. That creative outlook dovetails with Dacus' personal views on what it means to love and faith in other people — platonically, romantically, or even existentially. There is value in it, no matter how it presents itself to you. 

Dacus reflects on a lyric from album closer "Lost Time": "Nothing last forever, but let’s see how far we get.’ That line, it feels like a very central theme to the record," she says. "We can’t promise forever, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth doing."

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Aug. 23, 2024 and was updated on Feb. 4, 2025 to reflect Carpenter’s wins at the 2025 GRAMMYs.

Sabrina Carpenter is the first to admit that it's taken her a bit of time to find her way to the top of the music industry. She even likens herself to the tortoise in the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare" — even if she didn't want to believe the metaphor growing up.

"Something that my mom always said to me as a little girl that really annoyed me was that I am the tortoise… throughout my life, [I was] being told, 'Sabrina, you're the tortoise, just chill,'" Carpenter recalled while accepting the Variety Hitmakers Rising Artist Award in December 2023. "In moments of frustration and confusion it can feel like a letdown, but it turns out it's actually a very good thing."

It's been a very good thing for Carpenter, indeed. A decade since the release of her debut single, the singer/songwriter is now one of pop's new reigning queens — and a GRAMMY-winning one at that.

At the 2025 GRAMMYs, Carpenter’s chart-topping sixth album, Short n’ Sweet, was awarded Best Pop Vocal Album. It was one of two victories for the star, as she also took home Best Pop Solo Performance for the album’s viral hit "Espresso." The wins — as well as a highly entertaining performance of "Espresso" and "Please Please Please" — capped off a major breakthrough year for Carpenter, who earned six nominations in total including all four General Field Categories (Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist).

As Carpenter celebrates her first GRAMMY wins, take a deep dive into her decade-long journey to pop stardom.

Getting Started: Disney Breakthrough

Growing up, Carpenter filled the sounds of her family home in Pennsylvania with covers of songs like Adele's "Set Fire To The Rain" and "Picture to Burn" by future Eras Tour companion Taylor Swift (more on that later). After submitting videos for a singing contest spearheaded by Miley Cyrus, Carpenter would get her first taste of success. Placing third, she caught the eye of Hollywood Records, who signed her following the competition.

Simultaneously, Carpenter also began pursuing acting, landing guest spots on series like "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" in 2011 and joining "The Goodwin Games" in 2012. In 2014, she landed a lead role in the Disney Channel series "Girl Meets World," a spin-off of the beloved '90s series "Boy Meets World," which served as a breakthrough moment for the burgeoning star — and a catalyst for her music career.

Just before the show debuted, Carpenter released her debut single, "Can't Blame A Girl for Trying," the title track to her debut EP that arrived a month later. While the four-track EP was the typical output of a teenage Disney star — bubblegum pop sounds with digestible, family-friendly lyricism — it showed off her youthful timbre and offered themes that would become prevalent later in Carpenter's songwriting: love, heartache, and navigating life.

A year later, she released her debut album, Eyes Wide Open. A mix of pop with folk and country influences — a soundscape that remains on Short n' Sweet — Carpenter's debut showed maturity and growth following Can't Blame A Girl For Trying; songs like "Eyes Wide Open" and "We'll Be the Stars" showed a more introspective side, reflecting on the pressures of being in the spotlight and the journey of finding her identity. Eyes Wide Open also hinted that Carpenter was beginning to hone her songwriting skills, penning four of the 12 tracks.

It would be on her 2016 sophomore album, EVOLution, where Carpenter would find confidence as a songwriter, co-writing all but one song on the 10-track project. In turn, the lyrics reflected her growing sense of self and a new perspective on past themes, like embracing non-romantic forms of love in "All We Have is Love," being there for a struggling friend in "Shadows," and learning to assert boundaries in "Space."

EVOLution transitioned Carpenter out of the teen pop aesthetic into a more sophisticated sound, experimenting with dance-pop and techno sonics. Genre versatility would become a throughline of sorts for Carpenter, and EVOLution foreshadowed the multifaceted musicality that was to come.

Shedding Disney: From Child Actor To Pop Star

After "Girl Meets World" came to an end at the beginning of 2017, Carpenter was ready for reinvention. Much like Britney Spears' Britney and Cyrus' Can't Be Tamed before her, as Carpenter grew into an adult, she felt like she needed to shed the Disney-fied image that has become a rite of passage for teen stars. Thus began the Singular era.

Released in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Singular: Act I and Singular: Act II featured songs that were more risqué and mature in nature. A far cry from her tamer work of the past, the R&B track "Hold Tight" is equal parts sultry and evocative with Carpenter singing, "Wanna keep you in, wanna keep you in right/ Wanna feel your skin, wanna feel it on mine."

As she noted in an interview with Billboard, Singular: Act I  was a natural progression for a girl now in her late teens — even if it was against the squeaky-clean image of her beginnings.

"I was known as a fictional character on television with lines that were written for her with an attitude that was portrayed in a way by other people. So for a lot of people, their first impression of me was as a 13-year-old girl [singing] the kinds of songs that she should be singing," she said. "Then, flash forward to 19, and people are asking why I am not singing about the same things that I did when I was 13, as if that's normal."

One of the more notable Singular tracks is from Act I, "Sue Me." Sneakily disguised as a story about a romantic relationship, the song is Carpenter's response to being sued by her ex music managers: "That's my shape, I made the shadow/ That's my name, don't wear it out though/ Feelin' myself can't be illegal." Its tongue-in-cheek and snarky nature would inevitably embolden Carpenter to continue writing more confessional songs with attitude, whether she's responding to media scrutiny in "because i liked a boy" from 2022's emails i can't send, or warning a suitor to be careful in Short n' Sweet's "Please, Please, Please."

Singular: Act I and Act II further helped demonstrate different facets of Carpenter's musicality, with the former leaning into pop tendencies and the latter embracing an R&B flair. And as her final albums with Hollywood Records, she used Singular: Act I and Act II to indicate that she wasn't going to let any sort of previous perceptions hold her back. Their coming-of-age themes showcased Carpenter as an artist coming into her own — regardless of whether listeners wanted to keep her in the Disney box or not.

Reintroducing Herself: Artistic Authenticity & The "Nonsense" Effect

While the world was going through a period of change amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so was Carpenter. She signed with Universal Music Group's Island Records in 2021, and soon she would be able to fully introduce the world to who Sabrina Carpenter is as an artist.

As she noted herself to Variety earlier this year, her 2022 LP, emails i can't send, "marked the beginning of a really freeing and artistic time for me." Once again, she co-wrote every song on the album; this time, though, she only had one co-writer for each track, and even wrote two songs solo ("emails i can't send" and "how many things") — proving that she was more assured as a songwriter than ever.

As a result, Carpenter's knack for confessional songwriting is on full display. emails i can't send represents a reflective time capsule of sorts; one that brings the curiosity of her earlier work with the perspective and wisdom of a young adult. Her growing fame meant there was more attention on her personal life, and emails i can't send allowed her to reclaim her narrative and express her side of the story.

Carpenter's candidness struck a chord with listeners, and upon the release of emails i can't send in July 2022, it was clear Carpenter was on a new trajectory. The album debuted at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, which marked her highest entry on the chart to date (as of press time); the 2022 stretch of her Emails I Can't Send Tour sold out in less than a day. And once  "Nonsense" was released as a single that November, her place as a rapidly rising star was solidified.

"Nonsense" was initially written as a means to an end after Carpenter was writing a sad song and had writer's block. Now, the track is the epitome of Carpenter's lyricism, weaving together her wit and humor with an infectious hook. First gaining traction on TikTok because of its catchiness, it's become a beloved part of Carpenter's canon thanks to her inventive and bespoke outros during her live shows. It's since become a tradition for fans to check to see what outro she created for each performance, adding to the fan fervor.

Carpenter further satiated fans' taste for her cheeky lyricism in March 2023, when she released emails i can't send fwd:, the deluxe version of her album, which featured a new track called "Feather." She took the playful, flirting energy of "Nonsense" and infused "Feather" with buoyant, airy production that mimics the feeling of self-liberation after moving on from a relationship. Earning Carpenter her first pop radio No. 1, "Feather" proved that the singer's audacious style was taking hold — and it set the stage for an even bigger 2024.

Becoming A Superstar: Eras Tour, "Espresso" & Beyond

After her own extensive — and very sold out — tour in support of emails i can't send, Carpenter's rising star status was further confirmed by pop's current queen, Taylor Swift. The singer earned a coveted opening slot on Swift's monumental Eras Tour in Mexico, South America, Australia, and Asia.

Just after her last Eras Tour show in March 2024, Carpenter hinted that her own new era was beginning. "I'm starting to feel like I've outgrown the songs I'm singing," she admitted to Cosmopolitan, "which is always an exciting feeling because I think that means the next chapter is right around the corner."

That chapter began with "Espresso," which dropped a day before her debut Coachella performance. Doubling down on the playful, self-assured vibe of "Nonsense," the song immediately hinted that big things were coming for Carpenter, debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 3.

Upon announcing her sixth album, Short n' Sweet, Carpenter released "Please Please Please." Combining her now-signature playful, carefree lyricism with an airy, disco-tinged sound, "Please Please Please" didn't just present Carpenter as a confident superstar —  it became her first Hot 100-topping smash.

Carpenter has referred to Short n' Sweet as the "hot older sister" of emails i can't send. "It's my second 'big girl' album; it's a companion but it's not the same," she explained to Variety, to whom she also admitted she feels a "sense of separation" from her work prior to emails. "When it comes to having full creative control and being a full-fledged adult, I would consider this a sophomore album."

It's apt, then, that her Short n' Sweet collaborators — including songwriters Julia Michaels, Amy Allen and Steph Jones — are largely the same as the team from emails i can't send. "I've really honed in on the people that I love making music with," she told Rolling Stone in June 2024.

As "Espresso" and "Please Please Please" indicated, Carpenter's knack for infectious and edgy lyrics isn't just the throughline across Short n' Sweet — it's become the epitome of both her artistry and her stardom. Her signature style ultimately helped her earn six nominations at the 2025 GRAMMYs, and shone through in both her performance and her heartfelt acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Just like her metaphorical friend the tortoise, Carpenter's long but steady journey has clearly paid off. As she's figured out who she is on her own terms, she's manifested the bonafide superstardom she's always imagined.

"I never had the plan B, and it wasn't even a thought in my mind that it wouldn't work out," she told Rolling Stone last year. "I just always knew it was about not if it would happen but when it would happen."

For Carpenter, every chapter of her artistry has built on the last; she's refused to rest on her laurels and continuously pursued new directions. She's creating work that wholeheartedly reflects her, and growing a loyal fan base because of it. Her first GRAMMY-winning album might be named Short n' Sweet, but her time as a pop superstar will be anything but.

When Katy Perry announced her seventh studio album, 143, in July, a press release described the LP as "sexy, fearless return to form." While the first single from the project, "Woman's World," was panned by critics, its bold lyrics, punchy melody and outlandishly fun video are as Katy Perry as they come.

There's no denying that Perry is one of the most important artists to shape pop music in the 21st century. Her easygoing, sunny hits have soundtracked countless summers, and her vulnerable power ballads have affected millions. She's been nominated for 13 GRAMMY Awards, and is one of the best-selling artists of all time, even sharing company with Michael Jackson as the only two artists to ever land five No. 1 hits from a single album.

Just before 143's Sept. 20 arrival, Perry further proved her influence — and that her past hits hold up — with a  stellar mashup performance at MTV's 2024 VMA Awards on Sept. 11. Even if her seventh studio set doesn't achieve the heights of Perry's earlier albums, she's crafted some of the most iconic pop songs of the 21st century, from "I Kissed a Girl" to "Roar."

To celebrate the beginning of a new era and the blazing legacy of Perry's artistry, GRAMMY.com looks back at the most defining songs in her dazzling career.

"I Kissed A Girl," 'One Of The Boys' (2008)

Perry's debut single was the song that changed her trajectory forever. "I Kissed a Girl" became a massive hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven consecutive weeks, and earning Perry her first GRAMMY nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2009.

While the track has been widely criticized for its "queerbaiting" lyrics, Perry recognized them as problematic in a 2018 YouTube video for Glamour, and affirmed she would "probably make an edit" if given the chance to rewrite it. "We've really changed, conversationally, in the past 10 years," she said. "We've come a long way. Bisexuality wasn't as talked about back then, or any type of fluidity." Even if its lyrics haven't aged well, the propulsive electropop and instant catchiness of "I Kissed A Girl" introduced Perry as a pop force in the making.

"Hot N Cold," 'One Of The Boys' (2008)

Following the success of "I Kissed A Girl," Perry's follow-up single, "Hot N Cold," hinted that she wasn't a flash-in-the-pan artist. Co-produced by Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco — the duo behind both singles — "Hot N Cold" soared to No. 3 on the Hot 100, and also scored Perry her second GRAMMY nomination for Best Female Vocal Performance in 2010.

The upbeat, synth-filled hit is filled with sturdy synths and simple, yet witty lyricism about a loved one's fluctuating moods. "You're yes then you're no /You're in then you're out /You're up then you're down /You're wrong when it's right," she sings, unknowingly creating a relatable anthem for generations to come.

"Thinking of You," 'One Of The Boys' (2008)

The third single off One Of The Boys showcased a different facet to the splashy, sassy singer. In this stirring ballad, Perry — who wrote the lyrics by herself — pricks on old wounds as she pines for a former lover, despite being in a new relationship.

"You said move on, where do I go?/ I guess second best is all I will know," she sings in one of the most evocative compositions in her career. "Comparisons are easily done/ Once you've had a taste of perfection/ Like an apple hanging from a tree /I picked the ripest one, I still got the seed." 

While "Thinking of You" did not achieve the same chart success as some of Perry's other early singles, it still stands as a testament to her powerful vocals and ability to turn universal experiences into utterly personal tracks.

"California Gurls," 'Teenage Dream' (2010)

This cheeky, carefree homage to California — where both Perry and featuring rapper Snoop Dogg were born — revels in the depiction of a "warm, wet n' wild" paradise, filled with girls so hot they will "melt your popsicle." "They're unforgettable," Perry sings, and she might have been onto something, as "California Gurls" was arguably the song of the summer in 2010.

A co-production of Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco and pop master Max Martin, it spearheaded one of the singer's most successful eras: her third album, Teenage Dream. The track dominated charts and radio stations across the globe, also earning a GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals — and a permanent place in our minds.

"Teenage Dream," 'Teenage Dream' (2010)

After delivering another smash with Teenage Dream's lead single, Perry did it again with its title track. The album's second single manages to bottle all the euphoria and trepidation of being a teenager into one masterful, ageless hit. Adolescents all over the world can listen to this song and feel contemplated, in the same way that elders might hear it and remember the rush of their first loves.

While the melody packs some of Dr. Luke, Blanco and Martin's arguably best synths and guitar riffs, it's the exhilarating "I'ma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans/ Be your teenage dream tonight" bridge that makes this track truly unforgettable. "Teenage Dream" granted Perry both her third No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 and her third GRAMMY nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, setting the stage for even more massive success that was to come.

"Firework," 'Teenage Dream' (2010)

"Do you ever feel like a plastic bag/ Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?" Perry asks in the first line of her 2010 self-empowering anthem, "Firework." Although the question went on to become a meme due to its uncanny — yet oddly relatable — comparison, the track remains as one of her most successful efforts and a dynamic display of her grandiose vocals.

Inspired by a passage from Jack Kerouac's beatnik classic On the Road, "Firework" inspired listeners all over the world to "ignite the light and let it shine." Its inspiring message and belt-along hook helped "Firework" become Perry's fourth No.1 single on the Hot 100 and secure GRAMMY nominations for Record Of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" 'Teenage Dream' (2010)

After scoring yet another Hot 100 chart-topper with the freaky techno-pop "E.T." with Kanye West, Perry returned with her fifth single off Teenage Dream, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)." Like its four predecessors, the peppy track landed at No. 1 on the Hot 100 — making Perry the first (and, as of press time, only) female singer to topple five No.1 singles off the same album at Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

In yet another Dr. Luke and Max Martin co-production, Perry spiritedly retells a wild night drinking with friends. Dancing on tabletops? Check. Skinny-dipping in the dark? Check. Smelling like a mini bar? Check. As if playing the quintessential bingo of youth, she earns the jackpot and then some. However, despite the consequences (Towed car? Check!), her only goal is to "do it all again" next week. Oh, to be young and reckless… 

"Wide Awake," 'Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection' (2012)

With the release of her 2012 biopic, Katy Perry: Part of Me, the Californian singer also put forward one of her most touching power ballads. "I wish I knew then what I know now/ Wouldn't dive in, wouldn't bow down/ Gravity hurts, you made it so sweet/ 'Til I woke up on the concrete," she sings of a disenchanting breakup.

But the overall message of "Wide Awake" is an uplifting one — vowing to see the truth with clear eyes and eventually feel "born again." The song takes after Perry's personal experiences at the time, following her divorce from English comedian Russell Brand. "Wide Awake" was added to the reissue album, Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, alongside "Dressin' Up" and "Part of Me," ​​and earned a 2013 GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance.

"Roar," 'Prism' (2013)

"People talk about bullying, but you can be your own bully in some ways," Perry told W Magazine about "Roar," the lead single off her fourth album, 2013's Prism. "You can be the person who is standing in the way of your success, and that was the case for me. I was having a great professional streak, but personally, I was really immature, so I had to balance those things out."

A fitting opener to a new era of Katy Perry, "Roar" is a celebration of growing up, shaking off the dust, and moving on. With its lofty melodies, it's a song made to be performed in stadiums and sung in unison by thousands, amplifying its healing powers like a mantra. It's no surprise, then, that "Roar" became her eighth No. 1 hit and earned two GRAMMY nominations for Song Of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

"Unconditionally," 'Prism' (2013)

Inspired by her then-new boyfriend, John Mayer, and a UNICEF trip she took to Madagascar, "Unconditionally" is Perry's celebration of the purest form of love: acceptance. "All your insecurities/ All the dirty laundry/ Never made me blink one time," she sings, promising to love without restraints and without fear.

Whether that love is directed to a partner, a friend, or even a pet, it doesn't matter — "Unconditionally" suits human relationships as a whole, and attests to Perry's ability in capturing universal experiences. Here, her soaring vocals take the spotlight. Over a spacious instrumental, Perry reminds us that to love unconditionally is to be free.

"Dark Horse" feat. Juicy J, 'Prism' (2013)

Katy Perry is careful when choosing musical experimentations, but she nailed it by trying her hand in trap and hip-hop for "Dark Horse." Written from the point of view of a witch casting a love spell, the single's slow, sultry verses are hypnotizing, and the polished production makes it a standout on Prism and in her discography as a whole.

Perry's delivery is so remarkable that it makes you forget rapper Juicy J's subpar verses. But even that wasn't enough to dim "Dark Horse'"s light: the single was a commercial success, becoming her ninth No. 1, and earning a GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

"By the Grace of God," 'Prism' (2013)

Written while Perry suffered through the breakup from Russell Brand — so painful it made her consider if being alive was even worth it — the piano-led "By the Grace of God" is one of her most vulnerable efforts, and closes Prism on a stirring note.

In the lyrics, she moves from self-loathing to self-loving, once again hitting a relatable spot for anyone with a shattered heart. While songs like "Roar" had a more straightforward approach to empowerment, "By the Grace of God" shows that softness is strength, and being honest about your feelings makes them easier to bear. "I put one foot in front of the other and I /Looked in the mirror and decided to stay /Wasn't gonna let love take me out that way," she sings, confident that a better future lies ahead.

"Déjà Vu," 'Witness' (2017)

Witness, Perry's divisive fifth LP, came out four years after Prism, in 2017. By then, not only had she changed, but the world as well — Hillary Clinton's (whom Perry openly supported) loss at the 2016 presidential campaign, the burgeoning of streaming platforms. Amidst all that, Perry wanted to rebrand herself and make "purposeful pop."

The disc marked a departure from Perry's high-octane hits and partnership with Dr. Luke, diving into EDM and electropop rhythms. However, the package fell flat, and failed to achieve the commercial success that Perry hoped for, partly due to debatable single choices (think "Swish Swish" with Nicki Minaj).

But hiding in Witness' deep cuts lie true sonic gems, and "Déjà Vu" is arguably the shiniest one. In its addictive R&B melody, electronic synths, and vocal distortions, the track evokes a dead-end relationship that keeps repeating itself, like an unsolvable riddle. If people were willing to listen, they would see that Witness is quite compelling and a matured exploration of Perry's talents — she just needed a better marketing direction.

"Never Really Over," 'Smile' (2020)

After the troubled waters of Witness, Perry was ready to launch a new, promising era. 2019's "Never Really Over" was her best single since 2013's "Dark Horse," harking back to the sugary sweet hooks of Teenage Dream and swirling in dance floor-ready house beats. The tongue twisting post-chorus accurately depicts an on-and-off relationship, repetitive nature included: "Just because it's over doesn't mean it's really over/ And if I think it over, maybe you'll be coming over again/ And I'll have to get over you all over again."

"Never Really Over" marked the second collaboration with EDM producer Zedd in 2019, following the lackluster performance of their previous team-up, "365." In fact, the song was her most successful in the past five years, reaching No. 15 — her last Top 20 hit to date.

"Cry About It Later," 'Smile' (2020)

Smile marked a shift in Perry's personal life: She announced her pregnancy with fiancé Orlando Bloom in single "Never Worn White" (which appeared on the "Fan" and Japanese versions of the album), hinted at the baby's name through lead single "Daisies," and gave birth to daughter Daisy Dove just two days before the album release, on August 28, 2020.

Perry was in a better place — and that reflected on her songs. While the album was not a chart-topper like its three predecessors, its reception was mostly favorable among critics and the public. Smile felt like the true upgraded version of the singer: a resilient pop maven, shrugging at the "flops" and "fails" of life with bright enthusiasm. 

The glittering, nostalgic "Cry About it Later" sums it up: "I'll cry about it later/ Tonight, I'm havin' fun/ I'll cry about it later/ Tonight I'm gettin' some/ Tonight I'm gettin' something brand new." And though "Cry" features a verse that says, "I'm gonna fake it 'til it makes me feel good," it seems 143 is ushering in an era where Perry doesn't have to fake any happiness — or anything at all, for that matter. 

"I'm very proud of everything I accomplished, and I don't feel like I have anything to prove," she said in a recent interview with Audacy. "I'm creating from this abundance [of] artistic space. I always wanted to make a dance-pop record, so I've checked that [off my] bucket list. And there [are] a couple of records that I have in my mind that I still want to make, and I'll just go along that process if I get the opportunity to. This is a part of my purpose [and] my vision for myself."

Kylie Minogue is sometimes overlooked when sizing up the Australian pop icon's discography. But her fifth studio record, which was released on Sept. 19, 1994, remains a transformative and daring entry that jumpstarted a new phase of Minogue’s career.

Minogue’s self-titled album sought to relaunch her as an elevated and experimental artist. Gone was her "girl next door" image; Kylie Minogue showcased the singer/musician challenging herself creatively and complicating her public presentation. Decades on, the hypnotic resonance of "Confide in Me" and the sensual excess of "Put Yourself in My Place" remain a powerful contrast to the sugary music of her early career.

Kylie Minogue was still a deliberate and memorable moment in which the singer took complete charge of her creative direction. In 1992, and after four albums and a greatest hits record, Minogue dramatically parted ways with Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWL) and signed on with independent music company, Deconstruction. "I was aware that it was being perceived as a bit of a radical move, which I loved," Minogue previously told The Guardian. Deconstruction was an indie outlet known for producing electronic and house records, a genre Minogue would soon embrace herself with Kylie Mingoue. 

The gamble going rogue and wrestling artistic control back would quickly pay off. Where 1991's Let's Get to It stalled at No. 15 on UK charts, Kylie Minogue scaled the UK and Australian charts to No. 4 and No. 3 respectively, going gold in both regions and impressing music critics. One critic wrote: "So here it is, the one that's supposed to transform Kylie once and for all from pop kitten to credible artiste. This Herculean goal has actually been realized with a great deal of aplomb … it will come as no less than a revelation." Another gave this glowing assessment: "Kylie's self-titled new release is by far the best thing she has ever done."

The self-titled instalment stands as a blueprint for how Minogue would experiment with her aesthetic, artistic and musical approaches for the rest of her career. Kylie Minogue was also the beginning of a career-long flirtation with electronic and house genres — continued on her next album, Impossible Princess, to her latest, Tension — while taking innovative and ambitious artistic leaps with her image as a musician.

Adding "Minogue" to the album’s name (in a nod to her first album, Kylie) may have been a small gesture but belied a major public statement: gone was the ingenuous young woman, now beckoned the inventive and independent pop star ready to surprise us all. 

In honor of Kylie Minogue’s 30th anniversary, here's a look at how the singer radically broke with her past image, wielded full creative control over her music and silenced skeptics by proving she could actually sing.

It Showed Minogue Taking Creative Control

Kylie Minogue began her career as a manufactured teen star. From her launch on the Australia soap opera "Neighbours" to her first hit, "I Should Be So Lucky" and first two albums, Kylie and Enjoy Yourself, Minogue was known for catchy bubblegum pop. But within a few years, her music became formulaic releases pumped out by British production house PWL (aptly known as "The Hit Factory"). Her 1990 song "Better the Devil You Know" featured some overt (and controversial) sexuality, though it largely stuck close to her familiar dance-pop format approved by her record label.

By 1994, Minogue "had two choices: to record pop songs that would sell, or to experiment, let me loose in a field and see what happens," Minogue told Deconstruction. The resulting Kylie Minogue made a statement: Minogue was reclaiming her artistry and pop star profile. 

By abandoning PWL and approaching artists like Brothers in Rhythm and M People to help produce her record, Minogue — only about 24 — imbued her self-titled album with more adult imagery and a breadth of genres: dance, deep house, R&B, and even acid jazz.

This newfound freedom is best reflected on "Confide in Me," one of Minogue’s most unique releases thanks to its hookiness, orchestral excess and seductive lyrics musing on love and fame. The song offered an enticing blend of Middle Eastern strings and slower trip-hop beats for an intimate, if not unfamiliar, listening experience. Minogue would continue to showcase herself as a cool, confident and sexualized woman for the remainder of her career. 

It Started Minogue’s Love Affair With Electronic Music

"Padam Padam" might have been the standout smash hit from 2023’s Tension, but the album also has several strong electronic and house tracks. Minogue's interest in those genres traces back over 30 years, and her experiments with dance music are deeply connected to Kylie Minogue. Her new label, Deconstruction, was known for its house anthems (like "Rhythm Is a Mystery" by K-Klass) while producers Brothers in Rhythm helped galvanize her predilection for the genre. The British electronic trio were making waves on the UK club scene, and pushed Minogue deeper into this space.

Kylie Minogue saw the singer step away from the frothy disco and pop work she had built her career on, and commit more fully to the sonic pleasures of the club scene. Album tracks "Where Has the Love Gone" and "Time Will Pass You By" are playful and uplifting, emblematic of the playfully upbeat house and feel-good messages that would characterize Minogue’s later output.

The breathy and erotic "Where is the Feeling" was recorded twice. The album version embraced the tenets of "handbag house" with its uplifting chord progressions, disco sound and Minogue's soaring and soulful voice. The single version, by contrast, had a psychedelic trip-hop and ambient sound with demonstrated vulnerability. (Minogue later released an extended cut with confessional lyrics: "So why do I still feel this way?/ Detached and vulnerable/ The world on my shoulders/ Left alone to face the unknown.")

The album also let Minogue nod to the classic house music format of 12-inch singles. Songs like "Where Has the Love Gone" and "Falling " each ran close to seven minutes a piece, offering extended dance floor pleasures. Minogue has since continued this approach of longer dance-floor releases with extended cuts of Disco and Extension (The Extended Mixes) for Tension.

Further establishing her as a leading figure in the electronic/dance music world, Minogue would go on to win the inaugural GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Dance Recording for "Padam Padam" at the 2024 GRAMMYs.

Read More: Kylie Minogue On The Freedom Behind ‘Tension,’ Being A Gay Icon & "Padam Padam"

It Showed The Minogue Was A Serious Vocalist

Minogue was sometimes criticized for having tinny vocals and a weak range, but Kylie Minogue allowed the singer to flaunt her vocal prowess away from the strictures of the Hit Factory. "[H]er voice has been coaxed from a squeak to a more resonant entity," The Guardian’s music critic wrote.

Kylie Minogue proved to be her most vocally accomplished exercise, and a far cry from her earlier teeny-bopper output. "It was the first time I had sung like that," Minogue told the Guardian of tracks like "Confide in Me." Not only could Minogue hold a note, but she indulged in diverse vocal effects.

Case in point: the uptempo ballad "Put Yourself in My Place." Minogue's vocal maturity and strength are on display as she sings about suffering through a one-sided split. Minogue's emotive vocals show mastery of the elusive pop ballad, while the song's soft and seductive melody embody the pains of a failed romance. 

"Automatic Love" is also a vocal triumph. A smooth and sensuous ballad, the song features a cascading sonic arc that ends with Minogue showcasing her chops with a theatrical high note.

It Revealed Minogue Was Willing To Experiment Musically

Much like today, a global view of music and a desire to evolve was necessary to navigate the changing tastes and interests of the mid-'90s. With a coterie of edgy producers, Minogue played with unexpected genres and harmonies — like Middle Eastern instrumentation, new jack swing, R&B and even ambient sounds.

"If I Was Your Lover" may be a polarizing entry into the Minogue songbook, but it still highlights an ambition to take on the mammoth genre of R&B and the United States charts — a long allusive market for Minogue. Its rhythmic and percussive energy channels Janet Jackson, while a spoken word section (à la Madonna’s "Justify My Love") spotlights a remarkably different but developed voice for the singer.
Minogue took vocal risks on the record as well. The album captures a wide range of notes alongside whispers, murmurs and even sighs, framing Minogue as an ingenious vocalist who was broadening her sonic offerings. The intimacy afforded by these vocal gestures — such as the "s" emphasis in the spoken section of "Confide in Me" evoking a snake’s hiss — charges the songs with an erotic and hypnotic energy. The effect imbues Kylie Minogue with both a baring self-exposure and erotic intensity that listeners hadn't yet experienced previously.  

It Transformed Her Image

The aesthetics that accompanied Kylie Minogue, from the iconic album cover of a barefoot Minogue crouching in a suit and spectacles, to the visuals of provocative music videos, asserted and affirmed that she was shedding her playful pop princess image and in favor of a refined, urbane and worldly one. From this release onward, Minogue would embrace her own sensuality and own her satisfaction.

Music videos for the album threaded together elevated cinematography and unique art direction, often playing with ideas of impersonality and objectification. "Confide in Me" sees the star as various "dolls" viewers can call up and seek comfort and confidence in — much like a candy machine, love is for sale. "Where Is the Feeling?" is a gritty black-and-white episode that sees Minogue swim seductively around a pool — rubbing her lips, stroking her wet hair, giving lowered gazes to the camera — while unknowingly being pursued by a man. "Put Yourself in My Place" is Barbarella redone, with Minogue taking this iconic objectified woman of pop culture but remaking it as an exposed, naked body on display in outer space.The music video  sees Minogue take the Barbarella character and playfully undress in space, a figurative gesture that reminds of her rawest and most baring vocals yet. 

Minogue's nuanced understanding of her public image showed that she was a new kind of pop princess: sophisticated and sensual, introspective and detached. Minogue was now comfortable exploring her womanhood and sexuality publicly, and challenging her previously girlish persona.

Much like Madonna, the 1990s saw Minogue increasingly become preoccupied with her status as a pop star, which she mined for artistic experimentation. It’s no surprise, then, that there was an accompanying photobook for Kylie Minogue, which saw the singer stand behind the camera lens and have her beauty and blondeness examined or a camp parody. 

The album ultimately represented a moment for her to look from the outside in, and critically examine and challenge the image the singer was projecting publicly. Kylie Minogue stressed to both skeptics and stans that she was now abandoning the naivete of her past career to re-enter the music scene as a creative and elevated artist really to be reckoned with.