Fergie Opens Up About Relationships and New Music
The Dutchess is back. Eleven years after her solo debut, Fergie is finally delivering another record, this time in the form of a visual album. The singer, 42, has been through a lot in the past decade, and she captured some of the most emotional moments in this work. (But don't worry, her signature sexy anthems are in there too.)
Some may expect the album to largely focus on her recent split with Josh Duhamel, her husband of eight years, with songs like "Love Is Pain," "Tension," and an argument ballad called "Save It Till Morning." But Fergie's been working on this project for years, well before the break up. In one confessional in the film, which began shooting last January, she even refers to Duhamel as her "husband," not her ex.
Double Dutchess also shows a more fashionable side to Fergie, which she credits to her "dream team." Giovanni Bianco, who's worked on campaigns from Versace to Givenchy artistic-directed the album. Mert & Marcus shot the album art. Carine Roitfeld styled the cover and some of the videos - one of which stars It model Kendall Jenner.
The visuals display the range of her style, too: in "Save It Till Morning" she's in a shimmery Tom Ford bodycon dress; in "You Already Know," she and Nicki Minaj wear suits; in the Jonas Åkerlund-directed "A Little Work," she's in an avant-garde take on a straight jacket; in "Love is Pain," she's standing on a pedestal wearing a sheer Francesco Scognamiglio lace gown; in "L.A.LOVE," she's in a casual flannel with Y.G.
Making the album is actually a lot like getting dressed, Fergie explained. "It’s like the outfit that you have [with] all these different amazing pieces that have these stories," she told BAZAAR.com at a screening of her visual album last night, where she wore a Rodarte cropped blouse and sheer skirt.
"And it doesn't even work, it doesn't even match," she added. "There are different colors, but for some reason it all goes." Below, Fergie opens up about returning to the spotlight, her songwriting inspiration, and sampling her son's voice for the album.
During her time off, she settled down from being on the road and adjusted to being a mom.
"I did Dutchess and then I was still on tour, went straight into two albums with the [Black-Eyed] Peas, world tour. I had to slow down. I had this level work-wise and over here I was just living in luggage, so I had to get home and learn how to live in drawer. A friend of mine had an intervention with me, she said, 'Girl, you gotta get out of luggage, you're not leaving, you're home now.'
"I'm a very vulnerable girl and I'm sensitive and I love really hard."
“[I was] taking just a breather or two. Kind of "Can I have a job and be able to get my mindset into having a kid?” which is what I wanted to do. I started doing ballet dancing and yoga, and acupuncture and all this. I put my son as the sun, and I am the planet spinning around it. Coming back now it was, 'Okay, I have all this life experience that I hold onto and I journal and I write about, but it's not really appropriate to do it on a Peas record.'"
Her lyrics about heartbreak seem poignant in the wake of her split with her husband Josh Duhamel, but she says the songs aren't necessarily about him.
"I don't like putting out an album every year, so it was kind of saved up, and a lot these songs are feelings that I had that I focused on. When you focus on a feeling it expands. And I would go back to my journals and a lot of these more serious songs, or more emotional ones, are based on two or three relationships - not always romantic.
"I'm a very vulnerable girl and I'm sensitive and I love really hard. Why not just be honest about that? And allow it to flow and allow myself to just be? Let's just rip it open and show the world what's there."
Her four-year-old son with Duhamel, Axl Jack, sings on her flirtatious track, "Enchanté (Carine)."
"I brought it home the first time and I was listening to it and he started singing it and when you hear your son singing French, I was like 'Oh my gosh.' It's a little moment for me. I couldn't help it. I just put the phone on the side on silent and he had no idea he was being recorded. And then he would come to studio and I was like, 'Let's sing the pillow song!' because I made it into a game. Then I brought it home and I played it and he goes, 'Oh, it's me!' It was the cutest moment ever. He's got his first feature."
Axl, who also appears in her emotional "A Little Work" video, may be following in his mother's musical footsteps, but he also has a soft spot for superheroes.
"He sings songs all around the house. Or he'll [say] he's gonna be a superhero. He has his own superhero that he made up. He went, 'My superhero is Gars.' I went, 'Really?' and he said, 'Yes, he's the strongest superhero ever. He has vision power. He's a ninja.' He's so cute. They all kind of fuse, so on a daily basis I'm running around the house in different superhero costumes. And he'll change his mind and then he wants me to be Moana. So I've got like, half Moana and half Supergirl."
