Q&A: Salem Ilese is on the Rise With New Album ‘High Concept’
A WITTY, PROLIFIC, AND CLEVERLY SKILLFUL SONGWRITER — Salem Ilese releases her newest album, High Concept. An effortless blend of energetic pop beats, angsty rock, and a hint of soulful ballads, Ilese has created the perfect melting pot of some of the concepts closest to her heart.
With an undeniable talent for bringing relatability to her songwriting, Ilese has been on the rise since her first single, ‘Awake’ in 2018. With a viral RIAA certified gold smash hit, Mad at Disney, and collaborations with notable artists including Kesha, Gwen Stefani, and Demi Lovato, among others, Ilese continuously proves that her career and artistic growth are still on the rise.
Luna chatted with Ilese as she gave us an inside look into her own creativity, as well as the album’s process and story. Read the interview below.
LUNA: What was it like working with vaultboy, and why did you two decide to collaborate together?
ILESE: It was super fun! He’s the sweetest person to work with and incredibly talented. He actually hopped on the song pretty recently. I wrote that song with a few of my friends over a year ago, and I always knew I wanted to have a feature on it. I had a session with vaultboy a few months ago for one of his projects. After the session I went home and it was just this lightbulb moment. I immediately sent the song to him and asked if he wanted to do the feature on it. He wrote the verse and sent it back the next day, and it was amazing.
LUNA: Are there any songs or lyrics on the album that resonate with you the most? Why?
ILESE: Yes, I would say “2much2think.” The song is about the topic of anxiety. I can be very anxious, and [I] have OCD. I feel like the song really hits because it’s about having an anxiety hangover. It’s the feeling of being up at night overthinking in bed, letting the intrusive thoughts seep in, and waking up in the morning completely exhausted from it. Another song that hits close to home for me is “Designated Driver.” There’s a line in the song that says, “I’m too young to be this tired.” I have a tendency to say yes to everything all the time. While I love to be busy, I have moments where I realize I’m in my early twenties and totally exhausted (laughs). I would say those two songs are definitely relatable for me.
LUNA: Is there a concept behind the album as a whole?
ILESE: Yes! The album is called High Concept, and that is because I’m a very conceptual songwriter. I always start with a lyric, title, or clever play on words. The song concept is the most important part for me. I have a list on my phone with hundreds of concepts that I’ve been collecting throughout the years. I open that list at the start of every session and go through to see if there’s anything that resonates with others in the room or that I particularly want to write about that day. This album is basically a collection of my favorite song concepts from the past four years. Song-wise, the album can seem all over the place. There are rock influences mixed with hardcore pop, mixed with some ballads. That said, the through line is definitely the concept of every song.
LUNA: Were there any challenges when it came to writing these songs?
ILESE: Definitely. “Don’t shop when ur hungry !!” probably had over 10 versions. I wrote the original version with some friends while we were just hanging out and exchanging song concepts. We ended up writing the song that night because we fell in love with the concept and song title. The next morning, we listened back and rewrote almost every lyric, as well as the form and some of the verses. Then vaultboy popped on it and it got rewritten again! So that one was definitely a tough one to crack. Once everything came into place, it was really satisfying. It was almost like completing a puzzle.
LUNA: Is there a piece of advice you’d tell your younger self about being in music?
ILESE: Trust the process and keep posting content. I was originally against posting online, especially on TikTok. I remember in 2020 people kept telling me to post on TikTok, but I was resisting it every step of the way. Once I actually started posting, people really liked my stuff and it went really well. I think I’ve really carried that lesson with me since then, and now I try to be less critical about what I post — [I] share what I make when I make it.
Another piece of advice I’d give myself is to not read comments. It doesn’t do anything for anybody. I can usually tell when a DM is going to be nice or mean, so I try to only open the kind ones and respond to those so I don’t get wrapped up in the negative ones.
