After 10 years in the industry, Daya is ready to release her sophomore album.

Daya reveals all the details about creating her first full-length project, Til Every Petal Drops, since her debut record release in 2016. She also shares commentary about collaboration, touring and tackling the industry head-on.

ALL PHOTOS BY EMMA FISCHER

In my hometown, the coolest radio station to listen to on the way to high school was Kiss 108. As soon as my mom flew the key into the ignition and we heard the labored breath of the engine turning over, we’d rush to the recently illuminated radio panel and press 4 to the presaved 107.9 FM. In September of 2015, I was just starting my sophomore year, ready to take on the challenges and chaos of a new season with confidence. On one of those early morning drives, I heard a track, softly over the rumbles and ripples designated for the backseat passenger of our family minivan, that I instantly resonated with. The distorted, syncopated drum beat juxtaposed with the gentleness of the singer’s voice drew me in. Within the verses, I found my own thoughts, ones I didn’t realize I shared with others. She described the struggle between the loneliness of growing up without a partner and knowing that waiting for someone who treats you well is integral to a relationship’s success.

In February, a few months before, another high schooler in Pittsburgh was getting ready to attend a workshop hosted by her voice teacher at a music conservatory she owned. Grace Martine Tandon wrote songs in her bedroom, casually creating as a way to process her feelings. The conservatory performance was intended to be practice of her work with her teacher, but it drew the attention of a Los Angeles songwriter in the audience. After they spoke, Tandon agreed to fly to L.A. for a weekend to see what they could create together. In just two days, the recording and production of a track Tandon wrote called “Hideaway,” was finished. The song would eventually be her first single release, under the stage name Daya. 

“It was my first time ever in a professional studio, my first professional recording of anything,” Daya told Pleaser Magazine. 

Daya said she wasn’t planning on releasing it right away, but someone heard the track who wanted to be her manager, and they built a label around her and her music. After two months of flying back and forth to LA for photoshoots and management meetings, “Hideaway” was released on April 15, 2015. 

To reach more listeners, Daya and her mom toured radio stations across the country and pitched “Hideaway” with performances to lounges full of radio executives and disc jockeys. 

“It was a good exercise in learning how to perform. Sometimes I would have to sing to a room of people who really didn’t care about my work, so it was a good opportunity to prove myself,” she explained. 

After about six months of touring stations, Daya was starting to see the results of her efforts. She and her mom studied the continuously growing map of stations that played her song, and soon, national radio stations like iHeart and SiriusXM added it to their catalogue. Once that happened, “Hideaway” became a regular radio hit, and I heard the track almost every day on my way to sophomore year. 

“Hidwaway” was eventually added to a collection of six songs that dropped as Daya’s first self-titled EP on September 4, 2015. A year later, in October of 2016, her first album Sit Still, Look Pretty was released: 14 tracks including the six from the self-titled EP. The album was named after another breakout track from Daya, “Sit Still, Look Pretty.” Despite the early success and recognition of “Hideaway,” “Sit Still, Look Pretty,” has amassed more overall listens on Spotify, currently sitting at 649 million streams, with “Hideaway” close behind at 594 million. 

In the early days of my gradually building affection for music, radio hits like “Sit Still, Look Pretty” were integral bricks in my foundation. In “Sit Still, Look Pretty,” Daya shared her experience in seeking a stronger relationship than the ones she was seeing around her, which were balanced on superficial expectations and stereotypes. I felt connected to Daya’s words, strengthened by her ability to depict my goals for love in a way that was relatable, clear and tangible. 

When I hear “Sit Still, Look Pretty,” today, it  represents my early connection to music that explores themes of feminism, self-growth and female empowerment. 

The chorus chants: 

No, I don't wanna sit still, look pretty /

You get off on your 9-to-5 / 

Dream of picket fences and trophy wives /

But no, I'm never gonna be 'cause I don't wanna be/ 

'Cause I don't wanna sit still, look pretty.

After the takeoff of Sit Still, Look Pretty, Daya decided to focus on collaborations and EPs. She worked with big names like Illenium, Dom Dolla, and The Chainsmokers, producing danceable hits like “Don’t Let Me Down,” bumped from club speakers and frat houses for years to come. Daya said her work with larger pop bands and artists during the beginning of her career was a “true masterclass” in songwriting. 

“People don't give songwriting enough credit. It can be such a challenge to distill what you want to say and have it still be catchy, meaningful and have the impact you want.” 

She also explained that her diversion from full-length records to shorter EP projects was an intentional move. Daya released Sit Still, Look Pretty at just 18 years old, and wanted to “grow up, live life, and develop on my own,” before dedicating herself to another record. 

“A lot happened all at once with ‘Hideaway,’ and that first album, it was so incredible. I’m so lucky for all of that to have happened to me, but personally, I recognized that I needed to be a normal teenager and young adult before I wrote another album,” she said. 

This year, Daya signed with a distribution company, but is still considered an independent artist with total freedom and control over all the music she releases. “I feel really lucky for that, as it hasn’t always been the case,” she said. “I was kind of waiting for a situation like this before I did another full project.”

Daya released her sophomore record, Til Every Petal Drops, on October 10, and it was well worth the wait. Although her pop music background opened the door, Daya said she wanted to branch out from her previously traversed genres with this 12-song set. Before her pop breakthrough, Daya was influenced by the sounds of her childhood: singer / singer, folk and indie music. On Til Every Petal Drops, Daya explores these genres and others as a break from her traditional sound. Some experimental electronic, soul and pop-rock also made their way on the album. “It’s all over the map,” she said. 

Thematically, the album dives into personal exploration of your 20s, as well as how to develop a sense of self through relationships, situationships and on your own. Daya said confidence, comfortability with uniqueness and independence are also ideas that percolate throughout this record.

“Being a perfectionist, it’s hard to accept my flaws sometimes, but this record feels like my most vulnerable exploration of that, while also lifting a burden I've been carrying,” she said.  

This fall, Daya released two singles in anticipation of Til Every Petal Drops. One of those is “Bandit,” a high-energy, electro-pop track that traces heartbreak and what’s left in its path. Daya said this track was fun to write because she used concepts and imagery from classic, romantic action movie scenes, “but make it about two girls in love,” she said.  

She's a bandit in the night, she stole my heart /

And left me bleeding in the rearview /

She's got two feet on the gas, two eyes ahead, no looking back /

And I can't fill the hole shе left in my chest. 

In our final few minutes, Daya shared that live performances are an important part of her ability to connect with fans. In November of 2024, she opened two shows of Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want To Have Fun Farewell Tour. She added that touring with Lauper was inspirational, as she created and continues to cultivate a space for “fun, outside the box music.”

“She was so sweet in person and it was an honor to get to perform with her,” she said. 

Daya said this album release will be accompanied by visual elements she had a large part in. She’s also hoping to plan a larger tour for the beginning of 2026, but details could not be disclosed at the time of the interview.