Alessia Cara Drops Video for ‘Growing Pains,’ the First Single From Her New Album (Watch)

By Variety Staff

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Alessia Cara, winner of this year’s Best New Artist Grammy, has dropped a video for “Growing Pains,” the first single from her forthcoming sophomore album, which is tentatively scheduled for release later this year.

The 21-year-old Canadian’s star has risen significantly since the 2015 release of her platinum debut album “Know It All,” which spawned the hits “Here” and “Scars to Your Beautiful.” She has been an in-demand guest vocalist as well, appearing with Khalid on Logic’s suicide-awareness song “1-800-273-8255” — which the three performed at the Grammy Awards ceremony in January — as well as “Stay,” her hit collaboration with Zedd.

According to the announcement, on “Growing Pains” the singer “grapples with feelings of confusion and isolation, searches for peace, and ultimately finds joy in the face of her rapid-fire transition from childhood to becoming a young adult and an artist.” That is reflected in the metaphoric video, which features her being manipulated into different situations by dancers before being submerged in water, wearing the suit that is featured on the single’s artwork. The song’s lyrics address the conundrum directly:

And I guess the bad can get better

Gotta be wrong before it’s right

Every happy phrase engraved in my mind

And I’ve always been a go-getter

There’s truth in every word I write

But still the growing pains, growing pains

They’re keeping me up at night