Pop sensation Lexi Mariah recently unveiled her vibrant new single “Demons”, opening up about her own personal battles and inspiring others to face them front on, rather than hide away. The dance-worthy anthem is highly inspired by Cher Lloyd and Dua Lipa, emanating the same powerful female energy. Featuring 80’s-tinged elements, colorful synths and a pounding bass line, the song packs a punch. “I’ve made mistakes in the past of opening up too much, too fast and oversharing with people who I shouldn’t have overshared with,“ Lexi shares. “Because of this, I don’t always like to let others know how I’m feeling, so I’ll often hide my emotions even if they’re super strong.”  PopWrapped caught up with her talk the story behind her new release, her musical inspirations and her plans for 2022. 

How does it feel to finally have “Demons” out in the world?

It’s been out for a few weeks now and it’s still really exciting to me that my audience is finally able to listen to it. “Demons” is definitely my favorite song that I’ve released so far and was the song that I was the most excited to release because I feel like it represents who I want to be as an artist very well. 

“Demons” speaks about battling your inner demons and being vulnerable. What was the inspiration behind the song and where did it spark from?

There wasn’t necessarily one single situation that occurred to drive me to write “Demons.”  I feel like the concept of the song developed from feelings that I’ve been holding on to for a long time about struggling to truly open up to people and trust them enough to really allow them into my life. The title came to me first and as soon as I started strumming some chords, the lyrics came to me pretty much instantly. 

It’s a super catchy song with a great video – what was the experience of filming that like?

Filming the music video was a really fun time! The entire process was very smooth and we got filming done super quickly, in just one day, which I was really happy with. I loved that we were able to create the caution tape scene to correspond with the photo shoot and cover art for the song. I was honestly just really excited to finally release a music video again since I wasn’t able to for my last three singles. The response to the video has also been really amazing and that just makes it totally worth it to me. 

You’ve said how Cher Lloyd is a massive inspiration behind your sound. What is it about her that you love and if you could’ve written one of her songs, which one would it be and why?

I’ve looked up to her for such a long time now. I think one of the main things about her that made me love her so much is the way that she’s always taken so much time to interact with her fans since the very beginning of her career. She was the first artist who I ever had the opportunity to build a personal connection with as a fan when she first started replying to my tweets and messages when I was 13. Because of that, I’ve always felt like I could relate to her more than any other artist that I’ve looked up to. When I see artists go out of their way to interact with their fans and make them feel special, it makes me respect them that much more. That’s always the kind of artist that I’d like to be as well.

I think if I could’ve written one song by Cher, I’d choose her song “Sirens.” It’s been one of my favorites since it first came out and it’s one of her most well-written songs in my opinion. It’s one of those songs where the lyrics create a visual in your mind every time you listen to it and I also think it can be interpreted in a lot of different ways, which I love. 

If you could tour with any artist, who would it be and why? 

Definitely Taylor Swift. I adore her and her tours are literally magical. I’ve heard nothing but positive things about anyone who’s ever worked with her and she seems like a person who I’d love to be around and work with every day. She’s also one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to song-writing and my sound, so I feel like our music could fit together well enough to tour together some day, especially the songs that I’ve been working on lately! 

Do you have anything else lined up for this year? 

Since we’re already mid-November, I can confirm that there’s really nothing else major lined up for me in 2021. I definitely want to get back into doing some covers while I have a little time, maybe a couple of Christmas songs in the next month or so. I’ve really just been using this time since I released “Demons” to write as much new music as possible and finish some older unfinished songs too. I’ve also been back to rehearsing with a band and getting ready for some live shows next year so that’s really exciting for me. Once I’m back in the studio, which will be very soon, I’ll have a lot of really exciting plans and releases lined up for 2022. I know what my next single is going to be and it’s ready to hit the studio! 

Having only released four singles to date, you’ve already accumulated a lot of attention for and through your music. What can we expect in terms of your future releases?

I’d say you can definitely expect some more upbeat dance-pop singles like “Demons.” As I’ve said before, I do always like to stay kind of consistent with my sound, but I’m thinking of maybe going for something a little different for this next song. I have a lot of ideas. I honestly just keep working harder and harder to make sure that the next song is better than the last.

Give the video for “Demons” a watch above and for more information on Lexi Mariah, give her page a like on Facebook or follow her on Twitter and Instagram.