With more than 20 years in the game and through a number of albums, La Oreja de Van Gogh's romantic pop songs and masterful storytelling have evoked tears, laughter and smiles. Four years after their last release, 2016's El Planeta Imaginario, the veteran band who formed in 1996 in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain (vocalist Leire Martínez Ochoa joined the band in the late '00s) return with what they call their most autobiographical album yet.

Past albums have featured a mixture of personal songs and songs inspired by others, but this time around, Un Susurro en la Tormenta (a whisper in the storm) has the Latin GRAMMY-winning and GRAMMY-nominated band digging deep and looking to each other for lyrical inspiration. "All the songs on this album are ones that we have lived, all those songs are born from looking not around us but inward," Martínez Ochoa tells GRAMMY.com in a recent interview. 

Back on the album promotional cycle during the pandemic for their eighth album, the band finds themselves hungry to be back on stage—their tour was postponed due to COVID-19. Despite the chaos, the commercially successful band doesn't worry too much about success these days. 

"I think we have lost that kind of obsession with figures, data, survival. It is like we are calm, we have arrived, we are already in our zone," keyboardist Xabi San Martín says. 

The charismatic San Martin and Martinez Ochoa recently spoke to GRAMMY.com about just how personal this album is, what role instruments play in amplifying their feeling, their growth as a band, what they want to do next, and more. 

How’s life now that the world is so different?

Xabi: I live in 2008, so I have 12 years left to get [to 2020]. It's been quite a year—It's been a very strange year. We finished recording our new album in January and instead of going out to do interviews, promotion and concerts for it all over the world, we had to keep it in a drawer and we had to wait at home due to all the circumstances. This has been a really weird year. Let's hope the worst is over. The album has finally hit the streets. We are already preparing a tour for 2021 as if there was no virus. We are going to give it our all, give everything on stage. Our reality will be to play dumb and act as no virus exists and prepare the best possible show.

Beyond not being able to promote the album like usual, was any other aspect of the album affected by COVID?

Leire: Actually, not much. As Xavi said, the album was recorded before the state of alarm and confinement. We finished recording everything in the recording studio in January. The only thing that was affected, of course, is the tour. We should have been traveling and touring all over the United States and doing the entire summer tour in Spain since May. All that has been postponed, of course, but fortunately the only thing that affected us a little more initially was that we could not get together to shoot music videos. We had planned a music video the same weekend there was the state of alarm and all that had to be postponed. Fortunately now technology allows us to work from home, get projects done. The "Abrazame" music video was made from home and we believe it has ended up being that much more incredible. Sometimes you never know where opportunities will come from.

It’s true. It makes me wonder, how has this moment affected your creativity?

Xabi: I suppose that when we continue writing new songs we will be able to see how much of the virus [has affected the way we make] music. We just finished the album, it was practically in the mastering phase when the state of alarm started, so we’ve [used very little] creativity. We can tell you many colleagues have taken advantage of the confinements and the lockdown to write new music but there are more than 10 children that we have in total [among us] and they are small children, that is, our house was more like a battlefield in Syria, quite incompatible with creation of any kind [possible]. We were closer to needing psychiatric and pharmacological help than putting two notes together. I believe that all of this is an experience that, like all others, will sooner or later become a song possibly.

The title of the album, Un Susurro en la Tormenta is attention-grabbing. What inspired the name?

Leire: We believe the space created by the album title allows you to keep sharing things [and keep conversations going]. We believe that we live in somewhat crazy times, we live very fast, everything is done fast at breakneck speed. I believe that sometimes we spend little time looking at day-to-day things a lot but that they really are the things that matter. Sometimes, like the title says, it’s those whispers in the middle of the storm, especially that noise that sometimes takes over us and accompanies us on a daily basis, that are precisely what gives meaning to life and what we like. In this case, we believe that this album and these 11 stories are something between whispers and conversations, a bit with the idea that they are a whisper in the middle of the storms that each of us live.

This is your first album since 2016, when did you begin making it?

Xabi: Good question. I think we started—

Leire: We finished the last album’s tour in early 2018, more or less around summer. I think more or less around that time we started with the composition.

Xabi: Yes. Two years for a 40-minute album, which comes out to like 45 seconds a day. [Laughs.] The last person to live like this, has now left the country, his name is Juan Carlos I, who was the king of Spain. He worked just like us, what happens is that now he has escaped...

But anyway, we have lived very well, it has been two years of—We wanted to do things slowly because, thank God, after so many years we no longer have to follow trends or what the record companies say about, "You have to take advantage the moment." It's been more than 20 years of making music for us and we can allow ourselves the luxury of waiting for inspiration calmly and enjoying the process, without stress and without having to meet stressful deadlines because, "What if sales, what if--." In that sense, we’ve relaxed and we have cooked this album over very low heat.

When you're making a song, what’s your goal?

Xabi: I think that actually before there is a song, there is usually a story, something that has happened to us or something that has happened to someone close to us and for whatever reason, it has impacted us. It happens to any human being, we are all moved by situations, stories, experiences. What happens is, I suppose we try, with greater or lesser success, is to turn it into a song. Trying to tell a story that provokes the same sensation as the one we have experienced is our great ambition. I suppose that sometimes we have succeeded and sometimes not. That is the great ambition, to move and transmit what has inspired us for the song. That being said, this is very abstract, it’s like explaining the joke but when your heart is broken and you want to share that, you write a song, and if you succeed, it will break the heart of the listener for three minutes. That is the ambition of anyone who writes music, in our case, it is like that. That's our greatest goal.

You’re known as a band for your romantic songs. Where do you find new inspiration for those? Are they personal or from people you know?

Leire: They are all close. I also think that in this album, perhaps more than in others, we’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from within, we have searched a lot in ourselves. I think this is the most autobiographical album of all. As you said, we tend to always to talk about the day to day, everyday stories, situations in the world around us, things that disturb us, things that we live or that people close to us live. But I think this one is more autobiographical in particular. Perhaps it is the one that says the most about ourselves in the first person.

Can you share more on why is this album the most autobiographical?

Xabi: In general, in other albums we have told stories that have surrounded us but for the first time all the songs on this album are ones that we have lived, all those songs are born from looking not around us but inward. They are very intimate experiences, they are ours and they are things as dramatic as losing a loved one, nostalgia for impossible loves, for other times or experiences with our children. It is very personal, we have shared a lot of ourselves in these stories. In that sense, it is more autobiographical.

There are songs on this album that are sad and others that are more energetic, is that balance on purpose or is it something that comes naturally to you?

Leire: We don’t count and go, "We've done three upbeat songs—." There's no count at that level. The stories come out and if the song turns out a way that satisfies us all, that is the song that we keep. Only if what we felt wasn’t on the level of the rest of the album we discard it as we felt that it didn’t belong there, but not because the balance leaned more sad or—No. If we liked the song and it moved us, as Xabi said, we kept it, regardless of the style.

There are acoustic songs and there are songs with more instrumentals. Does each one to help you bring out a certain feeling more?

Xabi: Not necessarily. I think that as long as the voice more or less has the feeling, in the sense that it is covered by more or fewer instruments, I think it makes—I don't know, I'm improvising. I think it makes the story more intimate or closer. Suddenly if Leire sings alone with a piano, she is almost whispering to the listener. Whereas if you sing with everyone, drums and all, it can be more epic but not necessarily more exciting.

I don't think there is a direct relationship between the number of instruments and the state of mind. I think that the number of instruments, what it does is get the story closer to the listener or further away, but this is nonsense I am improvising. [laughs]

You're from Donostia but in your career, including on this album, you have songs that reference Madrid. I’ve lived there, I know it’s beautiful. What does Madrid mean to you?

Leire: It is a city that always welcomes us. It is a city we always go to, Madrid is a part of all our records, it is the capital of our country and where most of the media is. Of course, all the promotional plans and tours include Madrid. We have a lot of friends, people who love us [there]. As I told you, throughout the group's career, Madrid has always been very present for us. From recordings, mastering, producers, other artists, festivals. We go there a lot. I also think we have all have a certain personal relationship having spent time in Madrid or spent seasons there, as you have. It is a city that loves us and that we love a lot.

You have released eight albums, is there something about the recording process that was important to you before that no longer is?

Xabi: That is interesting. The truth is that recording techniques keep changing. Before, to record a piano you had to do so over and over the same way 35 times until it came out perfect. There were takes that were perfect, they had soul but suddenly something went wrong so you had to repeat it. Now technology allows a good shot to be corrected or taken from another one. I suppose, in exchange for losing that total honesty we had before in the studio, we have gained more creativity, those digital editing tools that we did not have on the first albums. We have lost that, the romance of the first takes or of playing all at the same time but in return, we have gained many more creative tools that allow [us to expand ourselves.] There are five of us in the studio and yet we recorded 90 different music tracks to get what we wanted. We have lost a bit of sincerity recording, in exchange for making the fantasy better.

How have you grown as a group on this album?

Leire: I think a lot. I think that, precisely what we talked about before, having looked inside to talk about certain issues. Having taken that step in such a clear way seems very brave to me. I think that makes us grow personally and probably also professionally. I believe that in each process of making an album many things are learned from all the people who collaborate on them. To start off, there are five of us who we are contributing things during the entire composition process, recording, on the day to day of the group's experience. Later, when an external factor enters, like the producer, in this case, Paco Salazar, in the end, it is people who always contribute, who teach you things about yourself even that you did not know. It allows you to work in a way that makes you leave your comfort zone and makes you face certain discomforts, so to speak, that make you empower yourself or grow. I think that, in the end, as a band, it’s very good because we all grow and the band grows.

Thinking ahead a bit, is there something musically that you haven't done that you want to do?

Xabi: Good question. The truth is we have done a lot of things that we did not expect, almost none [we expected]. From a record point of view, in the sense of success, we have met all the goals and those anxieties for success, that hunger for number one, I think we have left that behind. Maybe it's easy to say because this album that just came out weeks ago has been at number one in several countries, that's why I say it's easy to say it like that when it still happens to you. I think we have lost that kind of obsession with figures, data, survival. It is like we are calm, we have arrived, we are already in our zone. In that sense, we are quite calm. Artistically, I think whenever we’ve wanted to try something crazy, we've ended up doing it.

Leire: I think the craziest thing we want to do right now is being able to go on tour.

Xabi: So true.

Leire: Artistically it is what we are looking forward to.

Xabi: Get us out of the house, please. Let them put us on stage today. We must also bear in mind that we have to go collect a GRAMMY in 2021. We have to make room—we can take advantage of the tour in Mexico and the United States, and there we can pick it up—

Leire: Yes, please, I have never been [to the GRAMMYs] and I really want to go.

Andrekza Wants To Connect With People Who Think Differently

As someone who has dedicated her life to being a performer, Dua Lipa's recent admission to Apple Music's Zane Lowe seems almost unfathomable: "I never thought of the idea of being famous."

Stardom may not have been on her mind as a kid, but Lipa is now, indeed, one of the most famous pop stars on the planet as she releases her highly anticipated third album, Radical Optimism. 

In the seven years since her acclaimed 2017 self-titled debut, Lipa has achieved several highs — like three GRAMMY wins, including Best New Artist in 2019 — as well as the subsequent lows that can often come with global stardom. And though the singer also admitted to Lowe that it "took me a while to find my voice," Radical Optimism is her most self-assured album yet — one that hinges on the title being not only the project's name, but also its defining approach to Lipa's present-day vision for her life.

"Radical Optimism and the way that I see it is this idea of rolling with the punches, of not letting anything get you down for too long. Of always seeing the positive side of things. Of being able to grow and move forward and change your perspective regardless of what's happening in your life…I think it's a big part of maturing and growing up."

The entire album was crafted in her native London over the course of a year-and-a-half, with Lipa enlisting a small band of collaborators — including her righthand co-writer Caroline Ailin, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, Danny L. Harle and Tobias Jesso, Jr. — to create a cohesive, buoyant body of work tinged with disco, funk and bits of psychedelic pop.

Naturally, "radical optimism" is a core thread that runs through all eleven songs as Lipa reflects on falling in and out of love, grapples with her fame and confidently declares that everything that came before Radical Optimism was just a practice run. After all, as she brazenly declares on the LP's second single, "Training season's over." 

As you enter Dua's latest musical world, dive into four major takeaways from Radical Optimism below.

Radical Optimism Isn't Just A New Era — It's A Whole New Perspective

When Lipa accepted her GRAMMY for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2021, she declared she was officially done with the "sad music" that had fueled her breakout debut album. And if 2020's Future Nostalgia was, in context, a kind of clubby, '80s-driven turning point for the artist, she fully embraces the Radical Optimism promised by its follow-up's title. Lipa's newfound attitude is both clear-eyed and relentlessly positive across the album's 11 tracks, whether she's gushing over a new love on giddy opener "End of an Era," being kept up all night by thoughts of a seductive crush on "Whatcha Doing" or cutting her losses and ditching out early on the spellbinding "French Exit."

Even "These Walls," on which she watches a doomed relationship fade to black, is approached with a sense of inevitability laced with clarity and astute kindness. "But if these walls could talk/ They'd say enough, they'd say give up/ If these walls could talk/ They'd say/ You know you're f—ed/ It's not supposed to hurt this much/ Oh, if these walls could talk/ They tell us to break up," Lipa sings over gossamer production and a piano line by Andrew Wyatt.

You Can Still Find Her On The Dance Floor

The rollout for Radical Optimism was front-loaded with the release of three singles ahead of the full album in the form of "Houdini," "Training Season" and "Illusion." Between the three subsequent music videos and a thrilling live performance at the 2024 GRAMMYs in February, Lipa signaled that her third LP would be filled with her signature style of scintillating dance floor bangers.

The rest of the album more than delivers on that promise, with an overall BPM that rarely falls below what's needed for a full-blown aerobic workout — perfect for over-the-top choreography, of course. And in case the Service95 founder's commitment to the dance floor isn't already apparent, just look at the history-making hat trick she recently pulled off on the Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart: as of press time, "Houdini," "Illusion" and "Training Season" occupied the top three spots, marking a first for any female artist in modern music history.

She's Redefining Love On Her Own Terms

If the litany of love songs on Radical Optimism are any indication, it's safe to say Lipa is head over heels these days (with boyfriend Callum Turner, perhaps?). Opening track "End of an Era" may mark the beginning of a new musical journey for the singer, but it's just as much about the thrill of a new relationship. Later on the track list, she uses album cut "Falling Forever" to grow an initial spark of infatuation into a red-hot love affair as she yearns, "How long, how long/ Can it just keep getting better?/ Can we keep falling forever" on the lovestruck chorus.

Lipa also makes it clear on the shapeshifting highlight "Anything For Love" that she's "not interested in a love that gives up so easily." As she refuses to accept the modern paradigm of ghosting, non-committal situationships and running away when things get hard, the song morphs from a tender piano ballad into danceable, mid-tempo groove, giving the listener just enough breathing room to wrestle with the questions of what kind of love they'll accept before dancing it out.

She's Putting Her Emotional Growth On Full Display

It's been almost seven years since Lipa spelled out her "New Rules" for a generation of pop lovers, and some of the most affecting cuts on Radical Optimism prove the British-Albanian star has accrued even more hard-won wisdom since her early days of "If you're under him, you ain't gettin' over him."

Penultimate track "Maria" finds Lipa thanking the ghost of her current lover's ex-girlfriend for making him a better man: "Never thought I could feel this way/ Grateful for all the love you gave/ Here's to the lovers that make you change/ Maria, Maria, Maria." 

Meanwhile, on album closer "Happy for You," the singer turns her attention not to a lover's ex-girlfriend, but to an ex who's moved on from her and found himself happier than ever. It's a complex, but decidedly mature feeling to realize you're genuinely happy for someone you used to love, but Lipa encapsulates the emotion perfectly. 

"Oh, I must've loved you more than I ever knew/ Didn't know I could ever feel/ 'Cause I'm happy for you," she sings on the chorus. "Now I know everything was real/ I'm not mad, I'm not hurt/ You got everything you deserve/ Oh, I must've loved you more than I ever knew/ I'm happy for you."

The grown-up sentiment finishes the album on a bittersweet emotional high — proving that no matter what life throws at her, Lipa will remain radically and unapologetically optimistic to the end. 

GRAMMY Rewind: Dua Lipa Champions Happiness As She Accepts Her GRAMMY For Best Pop Vocal Album In 2021

Long before Dua Lipa reached pop megastardom, she declared the mantra that would soon become the core of her art: "It has to be fun."

Whether in club-hopping evenings or tear-streaked mornings, Lipa has continuously found a way to bring catharsis and movement into every moment — and, subsequently, every song she's released. So when she announced that her new album would be called Radical Optimism, the second word seemed obvious. But what would radical mean for Dua Lipa, and how did she get there?

Considering her time as a model prior to her music career taking off, many found it easy to write off the London-born singer as by-the-books pop, all-image artist. But even before taking a listen to her self-titled debut, Lipa's upbringing reveals far more complex feelings and inspirations.

The daughter of Kosovo Albanian parents living in London, Lipa took notes from her musician father, digging deep on the likes of the Police, David Bowie and Radiohead, while dancing to Ciara and Missy Elliott with her classmates. After a four-year stint in Kosovo when her family relocated, the then 15-year-old Dua moved back to London to stay with a family friend and build towards an inevitable music-oriented life, which began with clubbing incessantly and posting covers of Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera on YouTube.

Lipa was still working in restaurants when she first made contact with the music industry, burning the candle at both ends — as well as a third end unseen to mortals. "I'd finish work, then go out to whatever nightclub was happening until, like, 3 in the morning," she recently recalled to Elle. "Then I would wake up and go to the studio until I had my shift again at, like, 8 pm."

Warner Bros. Records caught wind of those sessions and signed her in 2014, leading to even more time in the studio (and, likely, less waitressing). Her debut single, 2015's "New Love," showcases everything that would lead to her eventual pop takeover: the resonant, sultry vocals, a propulsive beat, and a video full of effortless cool.

There would be seven more singles to follow from 2017's Dua Lipa, with the budding pop star co-writing a majority of the albums' tracks, alt R&B icon Miguel collaborating on a song, and Coldplay's Chris Martin providing additional vocals on the closer. While there are plenty of hits to take away ("Blow Your Mind (Mwah)" is a particular favorite in its grand and stompy disco sass), the true star here is "New Rules." Detailing the "rules" to avoid a problematic ex, the song could be cloying and twee, but Lipa's chill swagger sells the dance floor intensity and female empowerment in equal doses.

Listeners around the world agreed, as the song marked Lipa's first No. 1 in the UK and several other countries, as well as her first top 10 hit in the U.S. It also earned Lipa spots at festivals, a performance on Later… With Jools Holland, and five nominations at the 2018 Brit Awards — the most of any artist that year. She laid out a pretty clear manifesto after winning British Female Solo Artist: "Here's to more women on these stages, more women winning awards, and more women taking over the world."

As that year went on, Lipa solidified her own role in that mission. She became a hot collaboration commodity, first linking with Calvin Harris for the UK chart-topping "One Kiss"; then teaming with Mark Ronson and Diplo's Silk City for another club hit, "Electricity"; and even being recruited for Andrea Bocelli for "If Only," a track on his 2018 album, Sì. Her breakthrough was cemented in GRAMMY gold at the 2019 ceremony, too, as she won two golden gramophones: Best Dance Recording for "Electricity," and the coveted Best New Artist.

Early word of the Dua Lipa followup, Future Nostalgia, was that Lipa was amping the disco energy. "[The album] feels like a dancercise class," she hinted in July 2019 to the BBC, who also reported that the now full-fledged pop star was working with Pharrell, Nile Rodgers, Tove Lo, and Diplo.

Lead single "Don't Start Now" was co-written with the team behind "New Rules," and the hyper-elastic bass, MIDI strings, and honest-to-goodness cowbell more than lived up to her promise of disco domination. The track went platinum in five countries, a feat that would go on to be topped by multiple tracks on the album, including the smoldering "Physical" and the INXS-interpolating "Break My Heart."

The album's March 2020 release was a thing of anxious beauty. It could've been pure tragedy to release an album designed for sweaty, crowded clubs in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. And when the album leaked a full two weeks prior to its release, even Lipa wasn't sure if her timing was right. "I'm not sure if I'm even doing the right thing, but I think the thing we need the most at the moment is music, and we need joy and we need to be trying to see the light," she said in an Instagram Live days before the album's release.

True to that spirit, Lipa's openhearted enthusiasm and unadulterated fun made the album a staple of lockdown dance parties and wistful dancefloor daydreams. In a bit of chicken-and-egg magic, the album's runaway hit is the inescapable "Levitating." The song's buoyant synth pulse, clap-along disco groove, drippy strings and punchy hook add to something far greater than the sum of its parts. And DaBaby's in-the-cut remix verse helps fulfill Lipa's rap-meets-pop dreams. But it definitely didn't hurt to have the track basically overrun TikTok — and a video produced in partnership with the platform — at a time when we were all stuck at home, looking at our phones as a way to connect with the world.

That was only the beginning of the pop star's effort to make the most of the pandemic era; Lipa continued to find innovative ways to bring fans into her disco-fueled sonic universe for some joy and connection. For one, she evolved Future Nostalgia into a remix album: Club Future Nostalgia, featuring electronic minds like Moodymann and Yaeji, as well as high-profile guests like BLACKPINK, Madonna, and Missy Elliott. And while fans who had grown connected to the album were hungry for an event to attend, she developed Studio 2054. The technicolor, gleeful live-streamed event saw millions of viewers virtually join Lipa in an immaculately choreographed, star-studded dance party — one that further displayed her magnetic personality and in-the-moment attitude.

Through the entire Future Nostalgia era, Lipa's purpose further proved to be more than the music. Yet again, it was about the amount of fun and energy it was able to provide to fans, something that proved to resonate in an even bigger way than her first project.

"[Future Nostalgia] took on its own life. And that in itself showed me that everything is in its own way for its own specific purpose, for its own reason," she told Variety earlier this year. "As long as I'm being of service and the music is there and it's a soundtrack for a moment in time, or in someone's life, then I've done what I was supposed to do."

Before getting to work on her third LP, Lipa kept the dance party going with new and old collaborators. First, she scored another UK No. 1 and U.S. top 10 hit alongside Elton John with "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)"; later, she was enlisted for feel-good singles from Megan Thee Stallion and Calvin Harris' 2022 albums. Then, a reunion with Mark Ronson led to a summer 2023 detour in Barbie land, resulting in another disco-tinged smash, "Dance the Night," for the blockbuster film's soundtrack (as well as her acting debut!).

With the good vibes clearly not fading, Lipa was primed for her next musical venture. In November, she unveiled the lead single to her next project, "Houdini," a swirling track that features a trio of new collaborators — and a brilliant, if seemingly dissimilar, set of co-writers at that: former PC Music electronic experimentalist Danny Harle, Tame Impala frontman (and retro psychedelia mastermind) Kevin Parker, and breezy Canadian singer/songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. But with her trusty songwriter pal Caroline Ailin also in tow, Lipa retained the same trademark dance pop pulse amid crunchy bass and stomping percussion — putting the Radical into the Optimism.

She kept the same team (and energy) for the album's subsequent singles, "Training Season" and "Illusion." The former thumps and jitters underneath Lipa opting for a willowy falsetto in the chorus, a song that can unite Tame Impala psych addicts and more traditional poptimists at the club. And where earlier Lipa tracks might have been more eager to get to a bright punch, "Illusion" smolders patiently, trusting that the vocalist's charisma can buoy even the subtler moments.

While the album's first three singles carry echoes of the propulsive, dance floor energy of Future Nostalgia, Lipa took more notes from a more modern pop era than the disco days on Radical Optimism. "I think the Britpop element that really came to me was the influences of Oasis and Massive Attack and Portishead and Primal Scream, and the freedom and the energy those records had," she told Variety. "I love the experimentation behind it."

But, she insists, that's not to say that she's produced the next "Wonderwall." This isn't Dua Lipa's Britpop turn, but rather her latest experiment in finding freedom and embracing the moment.

"When I hear 'Teardrop' by Massive Attack and I'm like, 'how did this song even come to be? It feels like it just happened in a moment of real freedom and writing and emotion," she continued in the Variety interview. "And I think that was just the feeling I was trying to convey more than anything."

And in her mind, that freedom needs to remain at the core of everything — whether working through a global pandemic or working on a new project. "I think it's important that we just learn to walk through the fire and not hide away from it, or shy away from it," she added. "That's just optimism. It's probably the most daring thing we can do."

Chappell Roan's Big Year: The 'Midwest Princess' Examines How She Became A Pop "Feminomenon"

In her latest track "Off Switch," Australian dance-pop artist VASSY captures the exhilarating intensity of a budding romance. She loves the rush but, at the same time, wishes she could fight the feeling, even if only for a few seconds.

"There's something electric between you and I/ The way we connected I can't describe/ We're right on the edge of blurring the lines/ Don't know why I'm scared of this rush inside," she sings in the intro. "I wish my heart, it had an off switch/ 'Cause, boy, I don't know how to stop this."

In this episode of Global Spin, watch VASSY deliver an acoustic performance of her track, playing guitar and using a pair of castanets for added rhythm.

VASSY released "Off Switch" on Jan. 5 with an electrifying music video swirling with vibrant neon lights. 

Recently she wrapped a string of appearances supporting Aqua's United States leg of their world tour and earlier this month, performed a headlining show in San Diego. On May 18, she will take the stage at the BASSINTHEGRASS music festival in Darwin, Australia.

Press play on the video above to watch VASSY's lively performance of "Off Switch," and remember to check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Global Spin.

2024 GRAMMYs: Kylie Minogue Wins First-Ever GRAMMY For Best Pop Dance Recording For "Padam Padam"

"...and you're watching Disney Channel!" For anyone who grew up in the 2000s, those five words likely trigger some pretty vivid imagery: a glowing neon wand, an outline of Mickey Mouse's ears, and every Disney star from Hilary Duff to the Jonas Brothers. 

Nearly 20 years later, many of those child stars remain instantly recognizable — and often mononymous — to the millions of fans who grew up with them: Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. Nick, Kevin and Joe. 

Each of those names has equally memorable music attached to it — tunes that often wrap any given millennial in a blanket of nostalgia for a time that was, for better or for worse, "So Yesterday." And all of those hits, and the careers that go with them, have the same starting point in Hollywood Records, Disney Music Group's pop-oriented record label.

This time in Disney's history — the core of which can be traced from roughly 2003 to 2010 — was impactful on multiple fronts. With its music-oriented programming and multi-platform marketing strategies, the network launched a procession of teen idols whose music would come to define the soundtrack to millennials' lives, simultaneously breaking records with its Disney Channel Original Movies, TV shows and soundtracks.

Now, two decades later, Disney Music Group launched the Disney 2000s campaign, honoring the pivotal, star-making era that gave fans a generation of unforgettable pop music. The campaign will last through August and lead directly into D23 2024: The Ultimate Fan Event with special vinyl releases of landmark LPs and nostalgic social media activations occurring all summer long. April's campaign activation was Disney 2000s Weekend at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, which featured special screenings of 2008's Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert and 2009's Hannah Montana: The Movie and Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.

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But before Miley and the JoBros, Hollywood Records' formula for creating relatable (and bankable) teen pop stars began with just one name: Hilary Duff. At the time, the bubbly blonde girl next door was essentially the face of the network thanks to her starring role in "Lizzie McGuire," and she'd just made the leap to the big screen in the summer of 2003 with The Lizzie McGuire Movie. In her years with Disney, Duff had dabbled in recording songs for Radio Disney, and even released a Christmas album under Buena Vista Records. However, her first album with Hollywood Records had the potential to catapult her from charming tween ingénue to bonafide teen pop star — and that's exactly what it did.

Released on August 26, 2003, Duff's Metamorphosis sold more than 200,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The following week, the bubblegum studio set performed the rare feat of rising from No. 2 to No. 1, making the then-16-year-old Duff the first solo artist under 18 to earn a No. 1 album since Britney Spears.

The album's immediate success was no fluke: Within a matter of months, Metamorphosis had sold 2.6 million copies. Music videos for its radio-friendly singles "So Yesterday" and "Come Clean" received constant airplay between programming on the Disney Channel. (The latter was eventually licensed as the theme song for MTV's pioneering teen reality series "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," giving it an additional boost as a cultural touchstone of the early '00s.) A 33-date North American tour soon followed, and Hollywood Records officially had a sensation on their hands. 

Naturally, the label went to work replicating Duff's recipe for success, and even looked outside the pool of Disney Channel stars to develop new talent. Another early signee was Jesse McCartney. With a soulful croon and blonde mop, the former Dream Street member notched the label another big win with his 2004 breakout hit "Beautiful Soul."

"When 'Beautiful Soul' became the label's first No. 1 hit at radio, I think that's when they really knew they had something," McCartney tells GRAMMY.com. "Miley [Cyrus] and the Jonas Brothers were signed shortly after that success and the rest is history.

"The thing that Disney really excelled at was using the synergy of the channel with promoting songs at pop," he continues. "I did appearances on 'Hannah Montana' and 'The Suite Life of Zack & Cody' and my music videos were pushed to Disney Channel. The marketing was incredibly brilliant and I don't think there has been anything as connected with an entire generation like that since then."

By 2006, Disney had nearly perfected its synergistic formula, continually launching wildly popular tentpole franchises like High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls, and then giving stars like Vanessa Hudgens and Corbin Bleu recording contracts of their own. (Curiously, the pair's HSM co-star Ashley Tisdale was never signed to Hollywood Records, instead releasing her first two solo albums with Warner.) 

Aly Michalka showed off her vocal chops as sunny girl next door Keely Teslow on "Phil of the Future," and fans could find her off-screen as one half of sibling duo Aly & AJ. In between their 2005 debut album Into the Rush and its electro-pop-charged follow-up, 2007's Insomniatic, Aly and her equally talented younger sister, AJ, also headlined their own Disney Channel Original Movie, Cow Belles. (Duff also helped trailblaze this strategy with her own early DCOM, the ever-charming Cadet Kelly, in 2002, while she was simultaneously starring in "Lizzie McGuire.")

Even after years of proven success, the next class of stars became Disney's biggest and brightest, with Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers all joining the network — and record label — around the same time. "Hannah Montana" found Cyrus playing a spunky middle schooler by day and world-famous pop star by night, and the network leveraged the sitcom's conceit to give the Tennessee native (and daughter of '90s country heartthrob Billy Ray Cyrus) the best of both worlds. 

After establishing Hannah as a persona, the series' sophomore soundtrack introduced Miley as a pop star in her own right thanks to a clever double album that was one-half Hannah's music and one-half Miley's. It's literally there in the title: Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus.

From there, Cyrus' stardom took off like a rocket as she scored back-to-back No.1 albums and a parade of Top 10 hits like "See You Again," "7 Things," "The Climb," "Can't Be Tamed," and the ever-so-timeless anthem "Party in the U.S.A."

At the same time, Gomez had top billing on her own Disney Channel series, the magical (but less musical) "Wizards of Waverly Place." That hardly stopped her from launching her own music career, though, first by fronting Selena Gomez & the Scene from 2008 to 2012, then eventually going solo with the release of 2013's Stars Dance after the "Wizards" finale aired.

For her part, Lovato — Gomez's childhood bestie and "Barney & Friends" costar — got her big break playing Mitchie Torres in Camp Rock alongside the Jonas Brothers as fictional boy band Connect 3, led by Joe Jonas as the swaggering and floppy-haired Shane Gray. Much like Duff had five years prior in the wake of The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Lovato released her debut solo album, 2008's Don't Forget, just three months after her DCOM broke records for the Disney Channel. 

Building off their chemistry from the movie musical, nearly the entirety of Don't Forget was co-written with the Jonas Brothers, who released two of their own albums on Hollywood Records — 2007's Jonas Brothers and 2008's A Little Bit Longer — before getting their own short-lived, goofily meta Disney series, "Jonas," which wrapped weeks after the inevitable Camp Rock sequel arrived in September 2010.

As the 2000s gave way to the 2010s, the Disney machine began slowing down as its cavalcade of stars graduated to more grown-up acting roles, music and careers. But from Duff's Metamorphosis through Lovato's 2017 LP, Tell Me You Love Me, Hollywood Records caught lightning in a bottle again and again and again, giving millennials an entire generation of talent that has carried them through adulthood and into the 2020s.

To commemorate the Disney 2000s campaign, GRAMMY.com crafted a playlist to look back on Disney's golden age of pop with favorite tracks from Hilary Duff, Vanessa Hudgens, the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and more. Listen and reminisce below.