VITA Talks Debut Album 'OPIA' Out September 25, 2026

What aspects of your creative process have changed between your last record and this one? What has stayed the same?

To be honest, a lot more of this project was very reclusive for me. The writing aspect was very locked down. A lot of the songs on the project I initially wrote myself and then brought in other people. The last time was more collaborative in that sense. I think I kept the collaboration on the production part similar. But I also did bring in new writers this time who became family to me, and we girl-bonded. We were able to talk through some things; it was kind of like therapy. The last project, there was a lot of men like a lot and after a while I was like, I need some girls to enjoy this with me and enjoy some bonding. Especially when you're talking about forgiving your younger self, I think women are especially hard on themselves, and I needed that camaraderie to get it out of me in the most authentic way.

What was the inspiration behind the visuals for OPIA?

Lots of different stuff; I was very inspired by the Peter Pan troupe. I was researching the Margiela 2025 runway; it was a huge inspiration for this. Then sort of a pirate Peter Pan aspects of it. I was really into high fashion clown visuals. It came from a bunch of different places, but I just wanted to be as avant-garde as physically possible because, for me, I wanted the character to represent the performance. I wanted it to look so far away from who I am in real life that when people meet me in real life, they won't necessarily recognize me. Because this is the idea of what it is. I pulled from a bunch of places, but I'm very into photography, film, musical theater, ballet, opera; I'm a big researcher.

You’re a self taught engineer as well as a songwriter and performer. How hands-on were you in the production process for ‘Pleaser,’ and was there anything about the process that surprised you?

Yeah, I'm definitely a massive part of the process. The people I've been working with, I've been working with for so long. Naz produced this one; he's been my partner for everything creative. He produces, directs the videos, edits and colors them. We're kind of an insulated team, and we have been out of necessity from the beginning. He and I kind of have our own language; it's kind of unspoken at this point because he knows what I like and don't like. I give the producers a lot of freedom because I'm very particular about who I work with. I was a part of it, but I explain what I want and then step back and allow people to do their jobs because I have a lot of faith in them.

Your storytelling is extremely intimate. Do you have a specific philosophy when it comes to creating such vulnerable music?

The philosophy is just that if you're as honest as possible, whatever is going to happen is meant to happen, and I think that's real. A lot of my life, I was lying about who I was or what I wanted or trying to please other people. I wasn't being attracted to things that were giving me abundance on a grand level. Being honest with yourself first is the best step, and then you can be honest with everyone else. You're going to lose a lot of people. I know that I did, and that was the best thing for me because the only people who I have around me know are the ones who respect my boundaries and who I am as a person, like the real me, not the one who wanted people to like them.

What drew you to Mexico City to shoot the visuals for your album?

I came here a year ago and absolutely fell in love with it. The city itself is so beautiful and has so much character to it. It's funny we actually weren't supposed to film in Mexico City; we were supposed to film in Los Angeles for the first round of visuals. But there was a heatwave in Los Angeles, and the first visuals I’m laying on the ground. I didn't want to be a fried egg, so three days before the shoot we decided to pivot and flew my whole team out to Mexico City. Once we did it here, we realized the city and people have so much to offer. There is so much of a community here that I think exists in a lot of places, but there is a heart and soul that specifically lives in Mexico. Our entire team is Mexican, and a lot of them don't speak a lot of english, but they're my brothers and sisters now. I think the majority of the videos and visuals will be filmed over here now. How would you describe your artist project in three words?

Confronting, exciting, and vulnerable.

In a recent post, you mentioned finally having a budget for a music video. That must have given you newfound freedom to get more creative and go bigger. What is something exciting about planning your ideas now?

I mean, the sky's the limit, really. My team at Interscope is amazing. I have a joke with my team that there's someone at Interscope that rolls their eyes every time they get a text from me because my ideas are so absolutely a nut case. It feels really expansive now. When I first started, I had these massive ideas but didn't have the funds to do them. I'm looking out at them setting up the set right now, and I'm getting emotional thinking about five years ago; this just wasn't the case for me. I'm deeply grateful every day to get the opportunity to call somebody and be like I have the most insane idea ever; let's figure it out.

Can you elaborate on the meaning of OPIA and why it fits your narrative creatively or personally?

OPIA means the vulnerability and intensity of looking somebody in the eye. I think that kind of encapsulates the whole project. Looking at yourself rather than looking at other people. My music was very outward before, and this one is very inward, an introspection of me looking at myself properly. These days, people are scared of eye contact. I thought to myself at the beginning of this project, I felt that if anyone made too much eye contact with me, I felt really uncomfortable. I had to ask myself why I was afraid to be seen, and I think that's the whole point of OPIA: look at yourself and then think about why you're afraid to be seen.