pop music, and the big-budget music videos and tour DVDs artists like Britney Spears and Destiny’s Child were releasing, which she’d watch on repeat a common pasttime for many queer kids who long for something better. But she wasn’t just consuming pop music, she was writing it, too. From the age of 13, Kim began crafting lyrics and melodies, and eventually taught herself to use audio software like Garageband. While sure of the music, she initially lacked the selfconfidence to become a fully-fledged pop star. “Will people think I’m too ugly?” she used to ask herself. “Will people think I’m not talented enough?” So she did what many pop stars do at the beginning of their career: fake it until they make it. “I thought that no one would like me for who I actually am, and I had all these insecurities, so I made this larger than life, super-confident character instead, “ she confesses. “But I’m not that.” As her self
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belief and fan base grew in tandem, Kim decided it was time to focus on making the music that she truly wanted to make. While most artists take years off between album cycles, she waited just two months after rounding off her first era before launching straight into her new collection of singles, which is aptly named Clarity. “I’d gone through a bad breakup scenario and was really hurting, but I felt like I needed to cover that up all the time, she recalls. “l was doing back to back shows, singing all of these super happy songs, and then I would go and cry in my hotel room. From that emotion, Broken was born. Releasing a dark mid-tempo about heartbreak as a lead single is a risk for any pop star, especially one so beloved for dropping clubready bangers, but it made perfect sense to Kim. “There’s a little bit of an arc to this era, because Broken leads into Clarity, and that realisation that I shouldn’t get down