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Hilary Duff Returns to Music, Unfiltered and Unapologetically Herself
After a decade-long hiatus, pop icon Hilary Duff is back in the music scene with her raw and honest new album, “Luck… or Something.” The 38-year-old singer and actress, known for her early 2000s Disney fame, is stripping back the layers to reveal the complexities of her life as a wife, sister, and mother of four.
Duff recorded her latest LP in her husband Matthew Koma’s cozy, gear-filled studio near Van Nuys Airport. Koma, a renowned producer who has worked with artists like Zedd and Shania Twain, also produced the album. A sparkly pink electric guitar, a gift from Fender for Duff’s 16th birthday, hangs prominently on the studio wall, a sentimental nod to her enduring musical journey.
Before the likes of Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo, Duff emerged as a Disney Channel sensation in “Lizzie McGuire,” quickly ascending to pop stardom with her chart-topping album “Metamorphosis.” Despite her early success, she largely stepped away from music in her 20s to focus on acting and family life. Now, Duff is embracing her return with a collection of songs that delve into the nitty-gritty of adulthood.
“Luck… or Something” features candid, synth-and-guitar-laden tracks exploring themes of overcoming old habits and the fear of past glories. Songs like “We Don’t Talk” hint at a potential estrangement from her sister, Haylie, while “Weather for Tennis” touches on her role as a peacekeeper in a divorced household. In a surprising turn, “Holiday Party” recounts a recurring dream of Koma cheating on her with her friends.
Duff attributes much of the album’s introspective content to the “hormonal boom” following the birth of her fourth child. “I wake up in a rage and he’s like, ‘I didn’t do anything!’”
she laughs, referring to the dream. “And I’m like, ‘But you want to.’
A lot of this stuff came out of the hormonal boom of: I’ve just had a baby and I’m nursing and I’m trying to get my two feet back on the ground again.” Duff and Koma share three daughters aged 7, 4, and 1, and Duff has a 13-year-old son with ex-husband Mike Comrie.
While Koma emphasizes that commercial success is secondary to Duff’s artistic fulfillment, the album’s release has been met with significant buzz. Early 2000s nostalgia fueled a series of sold-out theater gigs, and Duff is set to play arenas worldwide this summer, including the Kia Forum in Inglewood on July 8 and 9.
Reflecting on her past, Duff states, “I’m finally at this place where I’m zero percent ashamed of my past and any of the things that used to embarrass me.” This newfound confidence led her to open her recent Wiltern set with two of her biggest hits, “Wake Up” and “So Yesterday,” followed by “Roommates,” arguably the album’s most vulnerable track.
“Roommates” fearlessly addresses a dry spell in a marriage, with lyrics as vivid as they are unsparing. Duff explains her bold lyrical choices, including a line about longing to be “in the back of a dive bar, giving you h-.”
“It’s meant to be polarizing because it’s such a desperate plea,” she explains, clarifying, “I can say I haven’t actually given h- in the back of a dive bar. But it’s just trying to capture the feeling of a time when you felt alive.”
Duff also discusses the evolving conversation around female sexuality, particularly for public figures. “I finally feel like I know a lot about sex,” she asserts.
“My whole 20s, sex was not always enjoyable – it was so much to figure out. Now I finally understand it.
Maybe that’s a female thing, but I’m not ready to be put out to pasture.” She humorously adds, “People come up to me all the time and they’re like, ‘Wow, you aged really well.’
I’m like, ‘I’m only 38! Just because you’ve known me since I was 9…'”
The album also features “Growing Up,” a deeply personal song that borrows a chorus from Blink-182’s “Dammit,” one of Duff’s favorite bands. She describes it as a “love letter to my fans,” a term she uses with a slight discomfort, preferring to see herself as “a woman of the people.”
When asked about her large family, Duff playfully admits, “I know – we’re sick.” She always envisioned a big family, having come from a small one herself. The decision to have a fourth child, she reveals, was a “crazy-a- decision.”
Duff openly shares that her desire to create this album stemmed from her experience as a mother of four. “I think that part of my wanting to make a record was coming out of having my fourth child,” she says.
“I felt really jealous that he got to go to work every day and just be alone with his thoughts. I was like, I need to stretch.
That’s what it felt like after the fourth baby: I’m either gonna lose myself completely and just become a stay-at-home mom and wait for the phone to ring, or I’m gonna go make something that moves me.”
Navigating the guilt often associated with mothers pursuing personal passions, Duff acknowledges the internal struggle. “That’s what the healthy part of the brain says.
But the other part that’s wired to be with the children you birthed – sometimes that part overshadows it. And it’s very hard to fight that.”
The track “Roommates” includes the relatable line, “Life is life-ing and pressure is pressuring me.” Duff notes the powerful connection she felt with her audience when they sang it back to her. “Oh, you know,” she recalls thinking, recognizing that the sentiment resonates far beyond parenthood, encompassing “the bills and the monotony and the traffic and the family – it’s all the things.”
While her early music targeted a younger demographic, Duff believes her new songs are for a different audience. “I don’t think so,” she says when asked if today’s 10-year-olds would be interested, though she admits to singing Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” as a child without fully grasping its meaning. She acknowledges the “golden age” of young female songwriters like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, crediting Swift with changing the game “on all the levels” in terms of sophisticated songwriting.
Duff’s journey to Atlantic Records was a smooth one. Having completed the album independently, she presented it to the label, avoiding the typical “dog-and-pony show” of label shopping.
She also reflects on her previous album, “Breathe In. Breathe Out.,” and the lessons learned from what she describes as “fumbling the ball a little.”
“I don’t think I would’ve made this record if I hadn’t fumbled the ball a little,” she admits.
Addressing the recent viral essay about a “toxic mom group” that allegedly included her, Duff expresses her familiarity with public scrutiny. “This is not new for me,” she states, having been followed by paparazzi since she was 15.
She dismisses the “clickbait” narratives on TikTok, emphasizing the importance of tuning out the noise. “Knowing that I get to open up the backdoors and play soccer as a family and take a hot tub and go get our chicken eggs – that’s the purpose of life,” she concludes, highlighting her focus on family and finding peace amidst the chaos.