Tinashe kicks thing up a notch in her latest shoot with DAZED. The singer also shares some details on her sophomore effort Joyride. The shoot may seems a bit odd to some, but that’s exactly what she going for and it’s a sight to see. Below we have some of the quotes from the lengthy discussion.
“Wanna see my ghost hunting photos?” she asks.
“Of course,” I say.
Within seconds, she opens a folder on her iPhone, revealing photos taken at a 13th-century French castle where she captured images of mysterious orbs – reputed in folklore to be angels or pure spiritual energy – and broadcast them to her thousands of fans on Snapchat. The supernatural, it turns out, is a bit of a fixation for Tinashe. We conspire over this unlikely mutual interest, musing over what it all means. We agree that, when it comes to this – and most anything else – possibilities are more interesting than proof. “It’s just a lot of fun to think about!” she concludes.
A few hours earlier, Tinashe was at KIIS-FM – the west coast’s #1 Top 40 station, and a musical walk of fame in its own right. It’s situated discreetly in an impressively manicured complex near Burbank. A Topless Maids van is parked across the street in front of an anonymous ranch, the type of benign smut that endures nostalgically through LA. Tinashe arrives in a black crop top and high-waisted HLZBLZ pants in a grid pattern, joined by her manager, Mike. She’s here to do an interview to promote “Player”, her new single featuring Chris Brown, before heading to South America to open for Katy Perry. She gives me a hug, then bolts straight into action, reading off station greetings, making goofy intros (“Ryan Seacrest is not dishwasher-safe!”), and breezing through a quick interview with JoJo, the station’s veteran pop DJ.
After hugging a small fleet of people goodbye (it’s the LA way, I learn), we pile into her car, a sleek black Audi she tells me she’s owned since she was 18. Make-up and a plastic bag filled with travel-sized toothpastes spill over in the front passenger seat as I attempt to get in. “Sorry, I was just at the dentist,” she laughs, flashing a conspicuously bright smile as she hops in. In six-inch spiked Givenchy heels, she hits the gas and we head out for the freeway. “We’re going to the Galleria,” she says. Clueless achievement unlocked.
On “Player”, a buoyant, synth-spiked tune that’s equal parts Europop sheen and R&B swagger, Tinashe delivers a masterclass of confidence that puts her head-and-shoulders above the pop melee. Joyride as a whole is a tightly produced pop experience, enlisting a cadre of heavy-hitters – Dr Luke, Max Martin’s smash squad, Hit-Boy, Travis Scott – while also reuniting the singer with previous collaborators Dev Hynes, Nic Nac and Boi-1da. As a mission statement, the album is about the beauty of living life in the fast lane. “The best part of life for me is these new experiences,” says Tinashe. “I want it to be exciting, I want it to keep you on your toes, I want people to not know what to expect. It’s the perfect title for this point in my life… I feel like I’m on a joyride all the time. It’s dangerous, it’s an adventure, it’s emotional.”
Read the rest here, and check out the photos below.