Demi Lovato: It's Not That Deep, Really
Demi Lovato is so over being American pop's troubled prodigal diva.
After many years of making headlines for her missteps as the most rebellious graduate from the Disney school of child entertainers—even going so far as to hold a punk-rock funeral for her pop-princess era in 2022—she's flipping the script this year.
The past several months have yielded big, heartening changes for the 33-year-old superstar. In May, she married singer-songwriter Jordan "Jutes" Lutes in a picturesque ceremony in Santa Barbara. In August, she performed a few numbers from the 2008 breakout musical film Camp Rock alongside her costars the Jonas Brothers during their headlining show at MetLife Stadium. And in October, Lovato flew to Paris for her first-ever fashion week, where she debuted a sleek, cosmopolitan look and rubbed elbows with fellow celebs at Vivienne Westwood, Coperni, and Ann Demeulemeester shows.
Released on October 24, her ninth studio album, which she flippantly dubbed It's Not That Deep, debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 and climbed to number one on the Top Dance Albums chart. Lovato, now three years in recovery from addiction, drew inspiration from EDM and nightlife to wrestle back her right to have a good time.
"The tone of this album is fun… Dare I say, cunty?" she says excitedly at a studio space in the San Fernando Valley, where we convened before her rehearsal. She hopped out of a black SUV wearing a cozy gray sweater, black leggings, and oversize shades, taking time to greet every crew member on set. Behind us was the slate backdrop from her album cover, shot by Daniel Sachon, which sees Lovato posing with a dry-cleaning bag at the center of a generic portrait studio while surrounded by a disorderly gathering of people and animals.
"I'm standing strong in the midst of all this chaos, and it's no secret that my world is very chaotic, the very public life that I live," she explains.
That Saturday night, she would perform her new material live for the first time at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles or, as it became that night, Club Demi. Flanked by screaming fans in their 20s, many of whom grew up seeing Lovato on television, the singer emerged catlike and commanding in a black lace bodysuit, undulating with her backup dancers to the skittish electronic beats that underpin her latest record. The opening song "Fast," a lusty work of biker-coded, hyperpop romance, revved up the crowd early on, but they were soon reeling from a surprise performance of "This Is Me," the Camp Rock classic she recorded as a teenager.
