Sara Bareilles: ‘I wrote love songs about the Obamas’

By Alicia Powell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles has turned her angst over the 2016 U.S. elections into art, writing love songs about former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.

Her new album, “Amidst the Chaos,” reflects both her dismay at the election of President Donald Trump and her support of social movements like female empowerment.

“‘Amidst The Chaos’ refers to the fact that the world actually feels like it’s on fire half the time these days to me,” Bareilles told Reuters.

The American singer, who shot to fame in 2007 with her debut single “Love Song,” was devastated when Obama left office.

“I miss them. Yeah, I wrote love songs about the Obamas,” she said.

“That’s how I dealt with my sorrow and my grief honestly when they disappeared. So, I wrote them songs – they were ‘I miss you songs.’… It was a sweet way to sort of channel sentiment that I didn’t know where else to put.”

Bareilles said that other music on the album, to be released on Friday, was inspired by the 2016 election and “the women’s movement that has really been an incredible groundswell in the last couple of years.”

“Amidst the Chaos” is the first album of original material from Bareilles since 2013. The singer spent six years bringing the musical “Waitress,” for which she wrote the music and took the lead acting role, to Broadway.

Bareilles, 39, is currently working on a series for Apple’s new television streaming service that is inspired by her own life.

“It’s about a young girl in New York City who’s a fledgling songwriter and singer and has a really special gift and … doesn’t know what to do with it yet,” she said.

Bareilles, who is writing original music for the “Little Voice” TV series, performed the theme song at an Apple event last month that unveiled the company’s upcoming Apple TV+ subscription service.

(Reporting by Alicia Powell; Editing by Leslie Adler)