Bailee Madison just dropped a new video for her single and we can’t keep our chill.
“‘Chiller’ was written about two months ago and it started with a conversation with my boyfriend Blake Richardson, who is also producing and writing this project with me,” Madison, 24, explained ahead of the Friday, July 26 release. “We were chatting about some weird situations that I have been in lately that left an un-chill taste in my mouth. From random guys whistling to me and my girlfriends, to hands just a little too low during pictures with strangers, we wanted to write a song that didn’t take itself too seriously but had the underlying message of embracing your body, having the freedom to exist in utter confidence and unapologetic love for ourselves at all times. We should never have to feel uncomfortable, so to relay the uncomfortableness that comes with these situations onto the song, we focused on making the production around the lyrics feel almost daunting and off-centered at times.”
Madison noted that making music has been “so healing.”
“We rarely go into a session knowing what we are aiming for, and I try not to put myself in a box,” she said. “Being uncomfortable helps me to grow and have a better understanding of myself. I love using music to push myself out of my comfort zone and to come out with a song like ‘Chiller’ with my amazing collaborators Amy Stroup, Rob Kleiner (track mix & master) and Blake. I think we really surprised ourselves, which is a great feeling. With so much more music to come, I’m so proud to release this song to the world. I hope you all like it.”
She first teased the single to fans via Instagram, posting a video of her writing the song’s title into the sand. She followed the video with promotional images of her on the beach, posing over a bed of ice cubes in a burgundy bikini.
“Oops, couldn’t find my chill,” she wrote in the caption. “#CHILLER out FRIDAY.”
The new work follows her January debut single, “Kinda Fun,” which she worked on with her boyfriend Blake Richardson, of the pop trio New Hope Club. She opened up to People in January about the song writing process.
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“It’s kind of a hug to my younger self,” said Madison. “And then kind of a pat on the back I would give to my current self to bring the fun back into everything again.”
Madison currently stars as Imogen Adams in the Pretty Little Liars sequel show, which rebranded as Pretty Little Liars: Summer School for season 2. She spoke to Us Weekly exclusively in June about the conclusion of the second installment, and what’s next for the show. When discussing the potential for new villains, Madison had a few theories about who it could be.
“I’m a bit biased. I did The Strangers: Prey at Night, so I’m a huge fan of some knife-wielding, psycho humans. It just feels really fitting and it would call for a lot of iconic scenes,” she told Us. “Entering the third [season], what does it look like to ground it even more and to kind of live in the darkness even more?”
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She also hopes to see the romance between her character and ex Johnny, played by Antonio Cipriano, rekindled in the new season.
“Imogen and Johnny had a really natural and instant connection that didn’t feel really that forced,” she told Us. “It just felt really gentle — but then also kind of mature in a sense. But two young people [were] grappling on to big emotions for the first time with a lot going on. So, I look at them as long-term slow burn.”
