Julia Michaels discusses her new song ‘No Heartbreak’s Killed Me Yet’ : NPR

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Julia Michaels has written hit songs about love for many artists – Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, Sabrina Carpenter and moore. But a recent heartbreak inspired a new song of her own.

JULIA MICHAELS: I was in a relationship quite a while, and when we ended, I actually cried so much that I shocked my heart out of rhythm (laughter) and had a minor heart surgery to fix it.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “NO HEARTBREAK’S KILLED ME YET”)

MICHAELS: (Singing) Ooh, nice try. You cut a little deeper than the last guy. I’ll give it to you, set the bar high.

“No Heartbreak’s Killed Me Yet” is an anthem for resilience. Heartbreak sometimes doesn’t always have to be sad. You can come out the other side and be like, oh, you know what? That person actually was really bad for me, and sometimes things need to end to make space for the things that are really great.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “NO HEARTBREAK’S KILLED ME YET”)

MICHAELS: (Singing) Oh.

In the interim of us breaking up and me having to have this heart surgery, I met my now-fiance. He was there, slept next to me in the hospital the whole time and basically nursed me back to health.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “NO HEARTBREAK’S KILLED ME YET”)

MICHAELS: (Singing) Well, maybe there’s a sting in my chest. No, wait, that’s just a drink going down slow. Dancing in my little red sundress ’cause oh, oh, no heartbreak’s killed me yet.

I grew up with a lot of different music in my house. I was homeschooled from middle school to high school. So from 16 years old, I was writing professionally with and for other people, and I’d never really been on stage. I’d never really performed live or in front of people. I always thought that I was going to be one of those songwriters that you just kind of never know about, just have some form of anonymity.

And I was working with Hailee Steinfeld. We were working on her first EP on Republic Records and A&R there. I remember he came into the studio, and he had heard one of the demos that we had we had done, and he heard my voice on it, and he looked at me and he was like, you’re a star.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “NO HEARTBREAK’S KILLED ME YET”)

MICHAELS: (Singing) Ooh, plot twist. You probably didn’t expect me going off script. Don’t let that mood sink in, baby. You’re the one who’s looking like a faucet. Well, I got no tears in my eyes and no sad songs on the speakers, not lying on the floor being overly dramatic. You still don’t understand…

I think that I am known for being really raw and really vulnerable and for wearing my heart on my sleeve. With my new EP – I just put out “Second Self” – you can hear that I have a very satirical sense of humor. And who you are at one time isn’t who you are at another time. People are always changing and evolving and going through so many different things. I’ve always tried to write songs for those moments in time, for those feelings in time.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “NO HEARTBREAK’S KILLED ME YET”)

MICHAELS: (Singing) ‘Cause oh, oh, no heartbreak’s killed me yet.

“No Heartbreak’s Killed Me Yet” is definitely going to be the start of another era of music. I started my own label last year, and being able to put out my own music and have the freedom to do so has just been very liberating.

RASCOE: That’s Julia Michaels talking about her new song, “No Heartbreak’s Killed Me Yet.” And her EP “Second Self” is out now.

(SOUNDBITE OF JULIA MICHAELS SONG, “NO HEARTBREAK’S KILLED ME YET”)

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