Can't Fight It

chapter twenty-one

"Hey, it's good to see you again." Y/N smiled politely.

Truthfully, she found James pretty annoying.

Then again, she found most people pretty annoying.

"You too!" He smiled. "The new album is amazing. Every song is an absolute banger."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Y/N interlaced her fingers loosely, letting her hands rest between her legs.

"Now, this album is already being named the album of the year by many people; Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard." He listed off, the audience cheering as Y/N shyly smiled.

Sure, she was proud of the work she does and what she has accomplished, but having someone talk about it in front of her makes her stomach swirl. It feels braggy, almost, even if she's not the one saying it.

Believe it or not, she hates being put on the spot, the attention all on her.

"Some artists take years to perfect their albums, to get them to that point. But, I heard you wrote the album in only a few months, is that correct?"

"Yes and no," Y/N replied, sitting up straighter. She cleared her throat. "I had been working on this album for about a year and I had it pretty much all done. We had release dates and everything all set. And then, my life kinda did a 180 and at that point, some the songs I had didn't feel like me anymore. They reflected who I was before this...major life change, not me as I am now."

The audience was quiet as Y/N answered. She was honestly shocked James hadn't interrupted her yet.

"So," she continued. "I was able to get my team to agree to let me revisit the album. For some songs, I just altered the lyrics but kept the melody and music the same, others I kinda started from scratch. It was a lot of work, not only for me but everyone who stayed in the studio for weeks and weeks to get the album ready to be released on time."

"Wow," James' eyes were wide. "Is it uncommon to go back and, more or less, scrap the original project?"

"When you have a set release date, yeah, it is. Thankfully, the hadn't started producing the physical albums yet—like CDs, vinyls, cassettes—so it was easier."

"Are there any songs from the original album that are still on this version?"

"Yeah, uh," Y/N began counting on her fingers, mentally running through the track list. "title track, kiss kiss, drunk face, concert for aliens, and WWIII were from the original. Listening to the album from start to finish—as you should with any album, track lists are important—" she said to the camera and audience. "I wanted the shift to be clear. So it goes from WWIII, this angry song about how the media and general public perceives me as an individual, to why are you here, a song that kinda begins the saga of this new love. From there, you can hear the relationship progress from 'God, why are you here and fucking me all up—shit sorry,"

"It's all good, we'll bleep it out."

"Alright, cool. Uh, yeah from that to admitting I'm like...in love and saying 'you're the one I want to go through life with'."

"Wow, honestly I've never really put much thought into how track lists can be so important to story lines." James said. "But after hearing this, I'm gonna have to go back and listen to all my favorite albums start to finish."

"You should. Thinking of track lists and the order in which you want someone to hear your story takes a lot of work." Y/N laughed lightly.

"Alright," James turned to the camera. "We're gonna take a quick break and when we come back," he looked mischievously at Y/N. "Y/N and I are gonna play a game."