Maggie Lindemann Is Getting Scarily Personal On I Feel Everything

There’s a lot going on in Maggie Lindemann’s new album, as the title I Feel Everything clearly suggests. But the theme that stands out the most is heartbreak. Although the 27-year-old singer values her private life, she knows that listeners will try to decode what inspired these songs — and that’s the hardest part about releasing them.

“I hate anyone knowing anything. That scares me,” Lindemann tells Elite Daily. “I'll put it out and people can say what they want, and I'll just really never talk about it.”

Several songs on the album, which released on Oct. 17, seem to be aimed at an ex, including the biting lyrics of “evil,” the primordial howl of “let me burn,” and the sad realization of “mourning.” For Lindemann, it’s easy to be vulnerable in the songwriting process, but it’s tough to let the rest of the world in on the intimate details of her life. “I think I struggle with honesty,” Lindemann says. “I feel like I want to protect people that hurt me, and I don't like airing things out. But unfortunately, I do write about my real-life experiences, so that will come out in music. Even though it is my story to tell, I hate that feeling. I get anxious about that.”

I pushed myself to write an angry song because I was angry, and I had a right to be angry.

Lindemann singles out “evil” as the most difficult track to write. On the scathing diss, she calls out a “man that never knew good” who can “play the victim so well.” “You’re not sad, you’re just evil,” she seethes in the chorus. “That hurt me to write, because I’m not an angry person. I don’t hold grudges,” Lindemann says. “But I pushed myself to write an angry song because I was angry, and I had a right to be angry.”

I Feel Everything is a massive departure from Lindemann’s musical beginnings. She first blew up in 2016 with her empowerment pop hit “Pretty Girl,” a song she’s had complicated feelings about over the past decade. “As I've grown, I can really respect what that song did for me,” Lindemann says. “I don't relate to it as much anymore, but I definitely have a great appreciation for it.”

While Lindemann’s sound has changed, the superstars she admires are still the ones she idolized as a kid. Below, she reveals the three musicians who have had the biggest impact on her.

Lana Del Rey

As an avid Tumblr girl back in the 2010s, it only makes sense for Lindemann to count the artsy site’s queen Lana Del Rey as one of her biggest inspirations. “She was Tumblr personified,” Lindemann raves. She describes first hearing Del Rey’s 2012 album Born to Die as a “literally life-changing” experience.

“I couldn't believe it when I first heard that,” Lindemann says. “I was a really big fan of ‘This Is What Makes Us Girls,’ and of course the big ones, like ‘Blue Jeans’ and ‘Video Games.’ That whole album literally paved a completely new direction for music.”

Lindemann continues to look to Del Rey for inspiration in terms of music, aesthetics, and more generally, how to live an authentic life. “She’s always so cool and just true to herself,” Lindemann says. “Even now, she has changed her aesthetic, but she's stayed so herself and nonconforming. She just married an alligator tour guide! Even her smoking cigarettes on stage. All those little things, it's just she's so human and so authentically her.”

She’s fully on board with Del Rey’s new Western era. “I'm excited for the country album,” Lindemann says. “She’s calling it Stove, which is so funny. I love her album names.”

Evanescence

It’s easy to see how Lindemann was influenced by Evanescence on I Feel Everything — many of her new songs blend operatic vocals with hard rock production, which is a staple of the Amy Lee-led group. Lindemann has been a devotee of their sound since her childhood.

“I had to have been 6 when I first heard them,” Lindemann says. “My mom listened to a lot of Evanescence when I was really little. The Fallen cover art is such a core memory. I thought it was so cool. We would always sing ‘Bring Me To Life’ in the car. I was this little kid screaming, ‘Wake me up!’”

Although Lindemann didn’t have a full-on goth phase, she still felt very inspired by the Evanescence look. “I was more on the emo side than goth, but I loved the white makeup, the hair, all of it. I wished I could do it, but I didn’t,” Lindemann says. “I always listened to the scene and grunge music, but I didn't dress like it.”

She hasn’t officially met Lee yet, but Lindemann dreams of one day collaborating with her. “It would definitely be something hard: a heavier production with our vocals,” Lindemann imagines. “I would love that.”

Gwen Stefani

Another one of Lindemann’s childhood car songs is “Hollaback Girl.” “I had to have been a literal baby the first time I heard that,” Lindemann says. “My mom loved Gwen Stefani so much.”

After growing up listening to Stefani’s solo pop hits, Lindemann discovered her past as the frontwoman of the ska-punk band No Doubt. “I remember seeing the Tragic Kingdom cover art pretty young and being like like, ‘Oh, what is this?’” Lindemann says. She fell in love with the band’s ‘90s releases, but if she’s forced to choose, it’s Stefani’s pop-star persona that she’s most drawn to. “The Gwen Stefani songs are so nostalgic for me,” Lindemann says.

While Stefani’s aesthetic and sound have changed a lot recently since she began releasing country songs with her husband Blake Shelton, Lindemann is supportive of the rebrand. “The thing is, she's been doing this for so long,” Lindemann says. “We as fans obviously want the Gwen that we grew up with, but it does get to a point where you want to try new things and venture out. She's married to her country man, and she's like, ‘I want to be a little country,’ and I think that that's fine. There's albums and albums and albums you can listen to if you want her old stuff.”