Lucy Hale is one of young Hollywood’s hottest stars, and now the Pretty Little Liars actress is hoping to conquer the world of country music. Appearing on the cover of Seventeen‘s June/July issue, the 23-year-old Tennessee native opens up about her forthcoming debut album.
“My album is something I’m really, really, really proud of. I’ve intentionally been quiet about it because I want the music to speak for itself. People are either going to love it or hate it,” Hale tells the magazine. “But I think that once they hear it, they’ll be like, ‘Okay, she loves this and is serious about it.’ This is my pride and joy — it’s my baby! I worked my butt off on it.”
In November 2012, the former American Juniors contestant told Us Weekly she was collaborating with Sugarland’s Kristian Bush. “We’ve written a few songs,” Hale said. “At the very beginning when I met him, he was sort of like, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? They’re going to give you a hard time because you were on a TV show.’ I was like, ‘No, this is what I wanna do.’ Then he heard me sing and he heard my music and was, on Team Lucy from then on out! He became a friend and a mentor.”
Hale likened her sound to Miranda Lambert. “We’ve got the sassy stuff down,” she explained. “We’ve got some breakup stuff, but we’ve got some beautiful love songs, too. . . It’s definitely fun for me because I know who I’m singing about, and that’s where the Taylor Swift in me comes out, because I know who I’m singing about, and they’ll know who I’m singing about. But it’s got a little bit of everything.”
Seventeen‘s June/July issue hits newsstands May 21. Pretty Little Liars returns June 11 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC Family.