Cara Delevingne has revealed that her debut songs are inspired by her journey to sobriety and the mental health challenges she has faced. The 33-year-old, globally renowned for her modeling career and acting roles in major productions such as Suicide Squad and Only Murders in the Building, has now ventured into the music industry. Her first two tracks, I Forgot and Out of My Head, were released last Friday.
Inspiration Behind the Music
Speaking to BBC Radio 1 presenter Jack Saunders on the New Music Show, Delevingne explained that the second track, Out of My Head, was inspired by her first year of sobriety. She described the "internal conflict and disassociation and all that fun stuff" she experienced during that time. "We changed the chorus to 'out of my head' because I think that's something I have to do every day to get out of my overthinking," she said.
Regarding her other track, I Forgot, Delevingne said she "wanted to make a song that could touch on the landscape of what mental health is like sometimes and how hard it can be and how raw it can feel." The London-born star revealed that the desire behind the song came from wanting to create something she could "absolutely just lose it to." She added, "I think as an English person, I was never very good at dealing with anger, and so this is the healthiest way I've found to release all of that and to express those emotions."
Personal Struggles and Growth
Delevingne has previously spoken about her struggles with depression and how she became "very good at disassociating from emotion completely." She has also opened up about battling addiction and how the 12-step treatment program has helped her. She noted that she has used humor and self-deprecation in the past but had to learn to take herself more seriously when it came to music, knowing that people will have preconceived ideas about her. "I wanted it to feel like me as a person was breaking through that, and try my best to be like: 'I am a person, I'm flawed and I'm a human and we all have pain and suffering, but music can be the one connector of that,'" she said.
Music Video and Collaboration
The cinematic, seven-minute music video for both tracks was directed by Jessica Lee Gagné, who served as lead cinematographer on the psychological thriller series Severance. The video opens with I Forgot, showing Delevingne falling through the sky before revealing a film set with crew and dancers. The second half features her walking through a forest and later shifting to an office setting.
Delevingne shared that Gagné initially declined the job due to being too busy but agreed after listening to the music because she "resonated with it." Delevingne praised Gagné, saying, "She is undeniably a visionary in so many different ways. A lot of the music I wanted to make, coming from doing movies, felt to me like it was very cinematic. So to be able to pair it with something like this has been a dream come true."
