Alessia Cara has built her career on trying to navigate the labyrinth that is the post-adolescent experience—falling in and out of love, anxiety, social media pressure in a tumultuous world and, in her case, catapulting to Grammy-winning success in just three short years. Her hour-long set at the iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank, Calif., on Wednesday night (Nov. 28) was the star’s way of showing her fans that life is less about finding “band-aids for the growing pains,” but instead learning to grow from the wounds.
Below, see some highlights from the Cara’s Album Release Party ahead of her sophomore effort, The Pains of Growing, out Nov. 30 via Def Jam Records.
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New Songs
Thus far, the songstress has been open about how personal her new album is, given that she wrote the whole thing on her own. The iHeart performance was deeply emotional for Cara, who shed tears throughout, providing a physical embodiment of vulnerability and the terror that comes with the uncertainty of how the inner depths of your heart will be received—a feeling that surely could make anyone cry.
She debuted four unreleased songs off The Pains of Growing: “7 Days,” a conversation with a higher power over the state of affairs here on Earth, “Comfortable,” a realization that a relationship’s post-honeymoon phase is not so bad, “I Don’t Want To,” the struggle of moving on from someone you still love and “Out of Love,” asking that person why he stopped loving you.
With lyrics like “Don’t turn away from your screen/The trouble we’ve created can make for some good TV” and “I’m used to loving slowly/But this time you already know me/I hope you like a broken heart,” Cara still plays the role of the snarky wallflower she debuted in 2015, who observes the world from fresh eyes—but this time, she changed her lens as someone who has experienced love, loss, and everything in between (“I was learning so much about adulthood and life in general, and I just needed to write about it,” she explained).
Are you loving @alessiacara’s ALL NEW song ‘7 Days?’ — #iHeartAlessiaCara
Watch live: https://t.co/B6km2NpXwt pic.twitter.com/FXJrtg1oV9
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) November 29, 2018
?? No one makes me sensitive like you ?? – @alessiacara
How are we feeling about her ALL NEW song ‘Comfortable?’ — #iHeartAlessiaCara https://t.co/B6km2NpXwt pic.twitter.com/nc4auMx0It
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) November 29, 2018
Where Her Grammy Is
A lighthearted part of the set was when the 22-year-old was congratulated for winning best new artist at this year’s Grammy Awards. When asked where she keeps her trophy, Cara stayed true to her just-like-everybody-else self, humorously revealing that her understandably proud parents created a small section of their house dedicated to her accomplishments: “I know the basement sounds like a weird place to put it, but I promise you it’s a nice little set-up with awards and pictures and stuff. They have it right in the middle.” She also joked that her cousins don’t pass up a photo op with the gold statuette.
“Not Today”
One of The Pains of Growing’s standouts is undoubtedly “Not Today,” an acknowledgment that “yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel but you can take your time to get there.” In an era of much-needed mental health awareness, Cara takes a refreshing approach to the topic by noting scarily relatable specifics that could cause the blues, whether that be a song that brings a mist to the eyes or a nervous breakdown on the cold tile of a bathroom floor. But she doesn’t try to fight it, she lets it happen. As she notes, “I’ll be the king of misery management/But surely not today.”
Will @alessiacara EVER release a bad song –!?… #NotToday –?? #iHeartAlessiaCara https://t.co/B6km2NpXwt pic.twitter.com/nFLJ2xjoaW
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) November 29, 2018
An Emotional Performance of “Scars To Your Beautiful”
The set was wrapped with her 2015 smash hit “Scars To Your Beautiful,” which was both a heartwarming tribute to how far she’s come and proof that the tune still has the same impact three years later.
A sobbing Cara could barely deliver the lyrics, which was no problem for the audience, who passionately chanted every word right back to their guide through the insecurities she helped them overcome.
RT if #ScarsToYourBeautiful is one of the most important songs you’ve ever heard — #iHeartAlessiaCara @alessiacara pic.twitter.com/7SwG2x5nS9
— iHeartTheater LA (@iHeartTheaterLA) November 29, 2018
Alessia Cara’s set list at the iHeartRadio Theater:
Here
Growing Pains
7 Days
Comfortable
I Don’t Want To
Out Of Love
Trust My Lonely
Not Today
Scars To Your Beautiful