On the podcast show for Audacy Music, Audacy Check-In, singer-songwriter Khalid sat down with Julia to discuss the inspiration for his song “New Normal,” from his third studio album, Everything Is Changing.
Khalid first performed the “New Normal” live at Virgin Galactic’s Unity 22 Spaceflight in July 2021 – a moment that he found to be surreal! The song is a dreamy ballad of personal growth and progress. While talking to Julia, Khalid said that quarantine helped him find a sense of normalcy that led to the song’s creation.
“This song is such a personal song for me because I feel like through the process of quarantine and finding a sense of normalcy throughout the chaos, that song kind of came to me in the wind,” he told Julia. “When I started this project, I was like what do I write about, what story do I tell? I just got to be honest with myself about the frustration I was going through. No matter what we go through, it’s just temporary, and we’re all going through it. That song to me is my own personal gift to my fans, letting them know I relate to you, I’m here.”
The music video to the song shows Khalid in his home as an army of drones deliver packages. After which, he tends to plants that are surrounding him, in a scene that perfectly depicts tranquility amid chaos and fear.
Nearly two years after the release of his sophomore album Free Spirit. Everything Is Changing follows the subtle melodies and vocal maneuvers heard in the track “New Normal.” After listening to the single, he realized the song’s message embodied what he felt the album represented.
“You found your way, but it’s never enough // Cause everything is changing.”
“Beforehand, the project was named something else, not really important, but I played the music for my team, and we sat down and listened to ‘New Normal,’ and the lyrics ‘everything is changing’ resonated so much, and I felt that embodied the album the most…I saw the growth from the moment I started the album to the moment I’m in the finishing stages,” he said.
When talking about the inspiration for the track, which set the tone for the rest of the album, the Grammy-nominated artist gave credit to a California hotspot: Joshua Tree.
“My trip to Joshua Tree,” he said. Adding that, “being in Joshua Tree for the first time, being in the middle of the desert and seeing the stars in the desert. I’ve never seen stars so vivid in my life…some songs take a day, some a week. It’s all sporadic for me.”
For more on Khalid’s interview with Audacy Check-In, head to audacy.com
