Sara Bareilles talks about new records the way some people talk about reunions with old friends — with warmth, a tiny bit of nerves, and the sense that she’s finally getting back to herself. When we connected to discuss Amidst The Chaos and its first single, “Armor,” she was still juggling Broadway runs of Waitress, developing a TV series with J.J. Abrams, and trying to figure out how one human being is supposed to keep this many plates spinning without losing a finger. But as she tells it, the music felt like home base again.
“Armor,” she says, was one of the songs that insisted on going first. “I wanted to talk to life at large,” she tells me, and she means it literally: the track was born after marching in Washington during the first Women’s March, long before the Kavanaugh hearings pushed her into releasing it early. “That was such a transformative experience… I’m new to activism, but I’m embracing it. At this stage in my life, I feel like it’s important to speak freely and passionately about what I care about.”
The song’s line — wait until you see my little sister — has already become a crowd-detector for goosebumps. Bareilles laughs when I mention it. “It brings the house down! I think about my sister, my nieces… I want them to have an example of someone who encourages them to be fiercely authentic.”
That fierce authenticity extends to the record as a whole, shaped with producer T Bone Burnett — a collaboration she still sounds giddy about. She’d written his name on a yellow legal pad at 18 under the heading “dream producers,” which is the kind of detail you’d roll your eyes at if it weren’t completely true. “He has impeccable taste,” she says. “There’s a sophistication he brings… and such an earthy grounding.” Some tracks were recorded completely live, Bareilles singing in the room with the band — a first for her. You can hear it in “Armor”: that heavy piano thump, rooted like the song has both hands in the dirt.
Her desire to stay rooted doesn’t mean she isn’t peeking over the fence of politics. She’s become close with Kirsten Gillibrand. “I loved her,” Bareilles says. “She’s so smart and really interested in bipartisan dealings, which I think is so important.” She laughs about the emerging primary field like a kid in a candy store: “It’s exciting how many women are playing the field at this point. Every day I’m like, ‘Oh, I’d love to see them get it… no wait, them.’” She jokes that Democrats have an “embarrassment of riches,” which is just about the politest way to describe the chaos of that electoral moment.
But even with politics swirling, Broadway was still eating up most of her calendar. She’d returned to Waitress for another limited run — “celebrating our third year on Broadway,” she says, still sounding stunned — and was preparing to launch the London production immediately after. “I made the choice to work on the musical from a selfish place,” she says. Burnout from pop stardom pushed her toward the theater world she grew up loving. It became a full second career. “I have a fan base willing to embrace songs about pie,” she jokes, “so going back to a singer-songwriter record feels really good.”
Those plates in the air? Let’s count: Broadway. A new album. Television. Yes, television. Bareilles confirms she’s developing Little Voice with J.J. Abrams and Jesse Nelson — “a show with music, not exactly a musical,” about a young songwriter loosely based on her. “When we started it was much closer to my actual life,” she says. “Now it’s easier to write when it’s a little further away.”
Her schedule sounds slightly illegal, but she shrugs it off: “When it rains, it pours. Each of these could be a full-time job, but the people involved are wonderful, so it’s actually a joy.”
The new album was finished — artwork approved, everything ready — but Bareilles was still waiting for a couple last puzzle pieces before announcing a release date. “I’m as anxious as anyone to get the music out there,” she says. And you believe her. She talks about the record like she’s holding her breath.
By the end of the conversation, with Waitress still roaring, activism blooming, and a T Bone-produced album ready to leave the nest, Bareilles seems to have landed comfortably in a truth most artists never reach: you can build a dual career as long as both lanes are fed by the same thing you started with — curiosity, compassion, and a piano you can pound the hell out of when the world gets loud.
“Armor” is the thesis, really. Community as strength. Women holding each other up. And a songwriter finally stepping back into her own voice — not with armor, but with intention.
Listen to the interview above and then check out "Armor" below!
