Devon Baldwin returns with bold pop energy, reclaiming power through heartbreak, vulnerability, and dreamy yet defiant soundscapes.

Devon Baldwin is a Bay Area-born, multi-platinum indie pop artist known for her ethereal soundscapes, raw emotional honesty, and chameleonic ability to navigate across genres without ever losing her distinct voice. First introduced through her debut EP Lungs – a title drawn from the visceral reality of her lung collapsing during its creation – Devon has since rebuilt not just her vocal strength, but an artistic identity rooted in both fragility and fearlessness. Her music has been described as dreamy and sensuous, but there’s always been steel behind the softness.

 

With collaborations spanning G-Eazy, Blackbear, Skizzy Mars, and Nurko, Devon has proven herself a dynamic presence in both pop and electronic spaces. Her latest chapter, marked by the single ‘Your Favorite Ex’, signals a bold new era. While still steeped in her signature emotional depth, this new work introduces a sharper edge – a reclamation of power forged through heartbreak and self-discovery. Blending shimmering aesthetics with zero-fucks energy, Devon’s latest music explores what it means to embrace pain without letting it define you.

 

As she gears up for a fresh wave of releases in 2025, Devon continues to shape a sonic world that is as expansive as it is intimate, inviting listeners to find strength in vulnerability, humour in chaos, and beauty in the bruises we carry. Here, we sit down with her to catch up on how she’s rebuilt her creativity, her collaborators, and what the rest of 2025 has in store for her.

You’ve always blended dreamy, ethereal textures with raw emotional honesty. Where do you feel ‘Your Favorite Ex’ sits within that balance – and what did you want to express differently this time around?

The ethereal aspect of my past releases was a reflection of a soft vulnerability that’s definitely still present in me as a person. And even though I think ‘Your Favorite Ex’ still has hints of dreamy elements, it leans more into finding power and strength within that vulnerability. I also just love pop music, and I wanted to create something that represents the pop-lover in me as a listener. It’s still raw emotional honesty, but with more zero-fucks energy.

The title alone feels like a wink, but also a reclaiming of power. Was there a specific moment or feeling that sparked the track?

It’s absolutely a wink, but not necessarily to any one person in particular. We all have that one ex who’s always at the back of our mind, and sometimes people make it abundantly clear that you’re the one on theirs. I wrote ‘Your Favorite Ex’ after going through a breakup with a friend-turned-situationship-turned-back-to-friend. At some point, I realised how many of my exes are still prominent fixtures in my life – and how chaotically amazing that is. I wanted to capture that energy in a song.

You’ve spoken in the past about rebuilding creatively after your lung collapsed – a powerful metaphor in itself. How has that experience shaped your sense of artistic control or self-preservation in the years since?

I had to relearn how to sing after my lung collapsed. But more than that, I lost a lot of my stage confidence. I started having panic attacks before shows, which was a first for me. The voice is such a vulnerable instrument. It literally comes out of your physical body and connects so deeply to how you move through the world. I had to refocus on the technical side of singing, while also working through the mental block I’d developed. That experience made me more intentional with my voice, and more aware of how deeply personal the art of singing really is.

You’ve worked across a wild spectrum – from G-Eazy to Nurko – while always sounding unmistakably you. What keeps your creative compass steady when navigating such different sonic worlds?

I love so many different types of music and that’s allowed me to play with a variety of sonic spaces. Some artists are nervous to genre-hop because they’re afraid they won’t sound like themselves in a different context. But I was listening to Rick Rubin’s podcast once, and he said the artist is always the common thread—that’s what makes it work. That stuck with me. It still has to be genuine, of course, and maybe it helps that I’m usually the songwriter as well as the singer in most of my collaborations, but regardless, it’s the emotion, and the expression of that emotion, that grounds me no matter what the genre is.

There’s a certain intimacy to your visuals – almost like we’re being invited into a dream or a memory. How involved are you in building those aesthetics, and what visual language feels most “Devon” right now?

I’m incredibly involved. I’m a Pisces through and through (Sun, Rising, and Venus), so I can’t resist an ethereal mermaid moment, and sometimes I also throw in a snake or two. I always return to Venus as a guiding symbol, especially Botticelli’s Venus. I love the romantic, soft, slightly mysterious aesthetic, and I try to incorporate that into my visuals, but I think this era specifically is more “Venus in exile”: Venus scorned, but powerful in her scorn. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is the energy. It’s feminine, but not passive. Dreamy, but a little dangerous.

You’ve performed at massive festivals and intimate headline shows alike – what version of yourself shows up on stage? And how do those live moments shift your relationship to the songs?

Live performance is my favourite part of the musical process. There have been times when a song suddenly takes on a whole new meaning onstage. It’s like I thought I knew what I wrote the song about, but then something clicks in front of an audience and I experience it differently. It’s a wild feeling. As for who shows up on stage… I wish I could say it’s always the most confident version of myself. But honestly, at the start of a set, it’s often just me and my inner monologue trying to remember to dance while I sing. It’s almost like my external self is performing while my brain is still catching up. But after a couple songs, I drop in and feel anchored. Performing centres me in a way that nothing else can.

A lot of your music lives at the intersection of fragility and fearlessness. How do you personally move through those two poles, both in your writing and in your life off-stage?

Honestly, I think my actual personality is some chaotic dichotomy of fearlessness and crippling anxiety, which is maybe true for most people. Balancing that tension is something I’m still learning how to navigate, both in real life and in my writing. But then I remember that strength can’t exist without softness. There has to be a balance of both to appreciate one or the other. The tricky part for me personally is that I tend to let vulnerability unravel me, which manifests as people-pleasing, escapism, just generally not prioritising myself (again, I’m a Pisces to my core). As a listener, music gives me a sense of strength, and as a writer and performer, it becomes a space where I channel that strength outward. It’s almost like I’m manifesting confidence in real time.

 You’ve carved a path as an independent artist while still racking up huge streaming numbers and major collaborations. What’s felt most freeing – and what still feels like a challenge?

I love collaborating with other artists. Whenever I write or perform as a featured artist, I feel like I discover a new version of myself I didn’t even know was there. Being independent gives me the freedom to work with whoever I want, and having full control over my artistry is a big part of why I love it. That kind of autonomy is crucial to me, especially as a woman in this industry where there’s so much pressure to fit into a specific mould. Of course, there are challenges too. I often feel like I’m wearing a bunch of different hats that I’m not necessarily qualified to wear. Trying to navigate being my own creative director, manager, marketing rep, and social media manager can feel overwhelming. But in the end, I’d rather figure it out as I go if it means that I’m building something authentic.

‘Your Favorite Ex’ opens the door to a new run of music for 2025. What kind of emotional or sonic world are you building with this next chapter?

This next chapter is bolder and hard-hitting: sonically, emotionally and aesthetically. It’s still vulnerable, but that emotional charge is anchored by a stronger sense of self. I’m exploring what it means to take my power back while still embracing the hurt.

Finally, what’s something you’d love your listeners to take away from this new era, especially those who’ve been with you since Lungs?

This new era is about rewriting the narrative – learning to sit with discomfort instead of avoiding it, and finding humour in the chaos of being alive. I want listeners to know they’re not alone in the inner turmoil that comes with healing from love lost. Reclaiming your power doesn’t mean pretending you were never hurt. It means accepting your truth, and still choosing to move forward with softness, humour, and strength.

Listen to 'Your Favorite Ex' now: