On “Gasoline,” the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist looks back to Prince, Chaka Khan and Tina Turner while moving toward something distinctly her own—and after growing up inside the music industry, she’s finally more interested in creative freedom than getting everything right.
Skylar Simone has been making records long enough to know how easily you can talk yourself out of making the record you actually want.
She released her first album at 13.
Think about that for a second.
At an age when most people are barely beginning to figure out what music they like, Simone was already trying to figure out what her own music should sound like.
Since then, she has spent years evolving publicly, developing the kind of technical vocal ability that can make difficult things sound effortless while teaching herself instruments and moving comfortably between pop and R&B.
But her new single “Gasoline” isn’t particularly interested in demonstrating how much Skylar Simone has learned.
It’s more interested in what happens when she stops worrying about it.
“I feel a sense of freedom creatively that I haven’t felt thus far in my career until now,” she says.
That might be the most important thing to know about “Gasoline.”
Not the genre.
Not the decade inspiring its production.
Freedom.
Making Music for the Girl Who Started It
When Simone had to decide which song should introduce her forthcoming project, “Gasoline” felt obvious.
Partially because she loves it.
More importantly, because it captures where she is.
“It really represents the energy of the project as a whole on top of showcasing where I’m at energetically in life.”
There is something particularly satisfying about where that energy has taken her.
“I’m truly making music that my younger self would be inspired by.”
For an artist who started releasing music so young, that’s not an insignificant statement.
Her younger self isn’t some abstract person who dreamed about eventually becoming a recording artist.
She already was one.
Which means Simone has effectively spent part of her childhood, adolescence and adulthood discovering herself while simultaneously being expected to present a version of that self to an audience.
Now she’s circling back.
Not to recreate what she made at 13.
To recover something that existed underneath it.
Fearlessness.
The Thing That Never Changed
Simone has one word for the quality connecting the artist she was then with the artist she is now.
Resilience.
Even she doesn’t necessarily identify with everything that younger Skylar recorded.
“I might not love or resonate anymore with songs I made when I was 12 or 13.”
Fair enough.
Imagine being held creatively accountable for everything you thought was good when you were 12.
But she respects that kid.
“I have a lot of respect for my younger self’s fearlessness and bounce-back ability through everything I’ve been through in my life and career.”
The songs changed.
The person changed.
The industry changed.
The instinct to keep going didn’t.
And “Gasoline” feels like a reunion between the experience Simone has accumulated and the fearlessness she started with.
Jealousy, but Make It Fun
The song itself came from a considerably less philosophical activity.
Looking through the exes of someone she liked.
“The night before that session I found myself going down the rabbit hole of ex’s of said love interest out of curiosity.”
You know.
Research.
Predictably, this generated some feelings.
“Angst and a little healthy possession,” as Simone describes it.
She walked into the next session knowing she wanted to write about jealousy.
But she wasn’t particularly interested in making jealousy destructive.
Instead, she wanted to explore the strange moment when seeing somebody else interested in the person you want clarifies your own attraction.
Jealousy becomes information.
“Ultimately landing on the theme of jealousy making you realize you like this person even more when seeing other people with shared interest.”
Hence:
Gasoline.
Something already combustible encountering the thing that makes it burn hotter.
Stop Thinking
That sense of instinct extends into Simone’s vocal performance.
She’s known for control.
But control can become its own problem when you possess enough of it.
If you know precisely what your voice can do, there’s always the temptation to make it do something.
Simone increasingly prefers another approach.
“I try not to think about it too much and instead just let instinct take the lead.”
This is particularly useful because she knows herself well enough to identify the enemy.
“I am definitely an overthinker.”
The more she tries to engineer the perfect performance, the less she tends to like it.
“The more I try and the more I think about it, the less happy I am with the results.”
So the goal becomes letting go without losing intention.
Technique still exists.
Vision still exists.
But neither should strangle the moment.
“I think the best music and performance stems from allowing yourself to let go, have fun, and being present in the moment while still staying true to my vision.”
Prince Is Somewhere in the Room
“Gasoline” reaches backward sonically too.
Its atmospheric alt-R&B world pulls from the 1980s, but Simone’s interest in the era isn’t primarily archaeological.
She’s not trying to perfectly recreate a vintage synth patch.
She’s returning to the artists who made her want to do this in the first place.
Prince.
Chaka Khan.
Tina Turner.
“I wanted to go back to my roots, which honestly re-inspired me.”
Those names tell you something important about what she’s chasing.
Not merely sound.
Performance.
“I love how they brought a sense of performance, artistry and liveliness to everything that they did.”
Prince wasn’t interesting because he belonged neatly to one category.
Neither was Tina Turner.
Neither was Chaka Khan.
Their identities were larger than whatever genre designation happened to sit beside the record.
That’s increasingly how Simone wants to think about herself.
Identity Over Genre
Ask whether Skylar Simone makes pop or R&B and she has a better question.
Why does it matter?
“I definitely prioritize identity over genre labels.”
That’s particularly appropriate now, when the boundaries between pop, R&B, alternative music, electronic music and practically everything adjacent to them have become increasingly porous.
Simone thinks listeners have changed with them.
“The ‘boxes’ that were created to categorize people and music is shifting and no longer is as important or meaningful as it used to be.”
What matters instead?
Connection.
Artist.
Story.
World.
“I think people right now want to connect with not only the music, but also the artist and stories behind the songs and really feel like they’re part of your world.”
So she isn’t particularly concerned about whether someone calls “Gasoline” pop, alt-R&B or something else entirely.
“I don’t really care what people want to categorize me or my music as.”
What she cares about is considerably harder to manufacture.
“I just want to make music that feels authentic and resonates with people and touches them in ways music has always done for me.”
She Hears Melody in the Drums
Part of Simone’s ability to move between those categories comes from the way she understands music itself.
She isn’t only a vocalist.
She’s a self-taught instrumentalist, and the different disciplines don’t remain neatly separated in her head.
They bleed into one another.
“I think they all go very hand-in-hand.”
Even behind a drum kit, Simone sometimes hears something other than percussion.
“I find myself at times, when playing the drums, hearing the melody through the instrument rather than the percussion necessarily.”
That’s how she learns.
How she understands rhythm.
How she hears arrangements.
“Every skill can be applied to the next in some way, shape or form.”
Which perhaps helps explain why “Gasoline” isn’t simply built around the voice sitting on top of production.
The entire record becomes part of the performance.
Heat
There’s an obvious visual vocabulary attached to a word like Gasoline.
Heat.
Danger.
Combustion.
Something dormant waiting for the smallest possible spark.
Simone is using it.
“For sure.”
For her, the satisfying part comes when the sound and visual language begin belonging to the same universe.
“It’s exciting when the songs and visuals all feel cohesive because it makes it a lot easier to bring the songs to life in the way I envisioned in my head when writing and making them.”
She isn’t revealing everything yet.
“I’m excited for everyone to see what I have up my sleeve.”
But “Gasoline” gives us the temperature.
Caring Less
Perhaps the greatest difference between Simone at 13 and Simone now isn’t musical ability.
It’s whose opinion gets to make the final decision.
“The biggest shift has been me caring less about what others think.”
Not caring about the work.
Not caring about the audience.
Caring less about allowing fear of somebody else’s reaction to prevent her from trying something.
And, specifically:
“No longer talking myself out of taking chances from a fear of failure.”
That distinction matters.
Because creative freedom doesn’t necessarily mean having unlimited options.
Sometimes it means becoming willing to choose one without asking everybody else whether you’re allowed to.
Simone says she’s reached a stage where she wants her musical decisions to come from things that make her happy, inspire her and fulfill her.
“For pure reasons.”
Not because she thinks she should make something.
Not because someone else might prefer it.
Not because it fits whatever version of Skylar Simone already exists in people’s minds.
“Which is very refreshing and exhilarating!”
Add Gasoline
So perhaps the title is even more appropriate than intended.
Simone has been building this career since childhood.
The technical ability was there.
The musicianship kept developing.
The experience accumulated.
So did the mistakes.
The resilience survived.
Now she’s adding the thing that can make all of it considerably less predictable.
Permission to play.
“I’m very in touch right now with being playful and finding any opportunity to take a risk where it still feels authentic.”
That’s where “Gasoline” points.
Not toward a specific genre.
Toward a mentality.
Freedom without abandoning craft.
Risk without abandoning identity.
Influence without imitation.
And the willingness to make something because it excites the person making it.
“It’s just the beginning,” Simone says.
Good.
Something this combustible probably shouldn’t end with the first spark.
In Conversation With Skylar Simone
“Gasoline” feels like the beginning of a new era for you—seductive, confident, and rooted in this atmospheric ’80s-inspired alt-pop/R&B world. What did you want this song to introduce about the artist you’re becoming?
When deciding what song to release first from my upcoming project, “Gasoline” felt like the obvious choice not only because it’s one of my personal favorites, but also because I think it really represents the energy of the project as a whole on top of showcasing where I’m at energetically in life. I feel a sense of freedom creatively that I haven’t felt thus far in my career until now and I’m truly making music that my younger self would be inspired by, which is a really fun full-circle feeling.
There’s a tension in “Gasoline” between its sleek, controlled production and the volatility suggested by the title. How did you use the production, vocal arrangements, and dynamics to build that sense of danger and attraction into the song?
It came very naturally! The night before that session I found myself going down the rabbit hole of ex’s of said love interest out of curiosity, which naturally sparked a feeling of angst and a little healthy possession haha. So I knew going into the session that I wanted to write about it and find a way to talk about “jealousy” in a way that didn’t feel so negative or self-destructive.
We had a lot of fun playing with different twists while still wanting to keep the integrity of the inspiration at the root of the song. Ultimately landing on the theme of jealousy making you realize you like this person even more when seeing other people with shared interest.
You’re known for having an incredibly controlled voice, but great songs often become most interesting when technique gives way to instinct. When you’re recording, how do you decide when to showcase what your voice can do and when to pull back and let a quieter performance carry the emotion?
I try not to think about it too much and instead just let instinct take the lead. I am definitely an overthinker, so I’ve learned that the more I try and the more I think about it, the less happy I am with the results. I think the best music and performance stems from allowing yourself to let go, have fun, and being present in the moment while still staying true to my vision.
You’re a self-taught instrumentalist as well as a vocalist. How does understanding instruments change the way you hear a song when you’re writing or recording? Are you thinking about the entire arrangement while developing your vocal melodies?
Definitely! I think they all go very hand-in-hand. I even find myself at times, when playing the drums, hearing the melody through the instrument rather than the percussion necessarily, which is how I learn, understand and hear the music and rhythm.
That’s the thing I love about music so much is all the different instruments, because every skill can be applied to the next in some way, shape or form. It all ties into one another which is really cool.
“Gasoline” pulls from ’80s sounds without feeling like a straightforward throwback. What elements from that era were you most interested in—synth textures, drum programming, vocal production, atmosphere—and how did you reshape them through a contemporary R&B lens?
I was really inspired by the artists that inspired me when I was younger to start making music in the first place. I wanted to go back to my roots, which honestly re-inspired me—leading to the creation of these songs!
Of course Prince, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, etc. to name a few that were on my daily playlist. I love how they brought a sense of performance, artistry and liveliness to everything that they did. Which is something that was important for me to incorporate and showcase on this project.
You released your first album at only 13, so you’ve essentially been discovering your musical identity while already being a recording artist. When you listen back to that younger version of yourself, what instincts do you recognize as things that are still fundamental to your music today?
“Resilience” is a word I think reflects something that has never changed. Even though I might not love or resonate anymore with songs I made when I was 12 or 13, I have a lot of respect for my younger self’s fearlessness and bounce-back ability through everything I’ve been through in my life and career, no matter what stage or age.
Pop and R&B are increasingly difficult to separate into neat categories, and your music seems comfortable living somewhere between them. Do genres still matter to you when you’re creating, or are you more interested in building a sonic identity that can move wherever the song demands?
I definitely prioritize identity over genre labels. Music is in such a cool space right now where I think the “boxes” that were created to categorize people and music is shifting and no longer is as important or meaningful as it used to be.
I think people right now want to connect with not only the music, but also the artist and stories behind the songs and really feel like they’re part of your world regardless of what that “technically” might be positioned as.
I don’t really care what people want to categorize me or my music as, I just want to make music that feels authentic and resonates with people and touches them in ways music has always done for me.
There’s something very physical about the imagery of a title like “Gasoline”—heat, combustion, something potentially dangerous waiting to ignite. Did that imagery influence the sonic or visual world you’re building around this next chapter?
For sure! It’s exciting when the songs and visuals all feel cohesive because it makes it a lot easier to bring the songs to life in the way I envisioned in my head when writing and making them. I’m excited for everyone to see what I have up my sleeve.
Because you’ve been making music professionally from such a young age, you’ve experienced several different versions of the industry already. What feels different about your creative decision-making now, and where do you feel you’ve become more fearless musically?
I think the biggest shift has been me caring less about what others think and no longer talking myself out of taking chances from a fear of failure. I’m in such a stage of life where I truly want to make music and decisions based on things that make me happy, inspire and fulfill me for pure reasons, rather than because I think they should or to please others. Which is very refreshing and exhilarating!
If “Gasoline” is only the first glimpse of what’s coming next, what should we be listening for beneath the surface of the song that might tell us where Skylar Simone is heading next?
It’s just the beginning. I’m very in touch right now with being playful and finding any opportunity to take a risk where it still feels authentic. I think that freedom and always pushing myself to grow and evolve is something that you can expect from me always.
