Demi Lovato's touring commitments for her hit 2015 album Confident were only completed in February, with her RedFest show in Dubai, but the 24-year-old pop singer already has new projects under way.
This month she collaborated with actress Kate Hudson’s sportswear brand, Fabletics, on a fashion line.
And last week, Lovato released the video for her collaboration with American dance-music trio Cheat Codes – the dreamy synth-pop number No Promises. The breezy video features Lovato sporting tatty dreadlocks.
“I juggle the workload pretty well I think,” she says ahead of her performance that day at the Mawazine Festival in Morocco.
"I try to get enough time to rest and do the best that I can do, workwise, and still have fun. And it is just exciting to be releasing new music. I fell in love with No Promises as soon as I heard it."
Lovato confirmed she has been working in the studio on her sixth album, which will be released this year.
Where 2015's Confident was a bright pop album on which she embraced a more electronic sound, the new album will be a more organic affair.
“I am looking for a more soulful and R&B sound,” she says.
“Right now I am just in the studio working on the music and seeing what comes out of all the experimentation we are doing with the writing.”
But, while the sound is changing, one thing that will remain the same is the uplifting lyrics.
From early singles such as This Is Me through to No Promises, Lovato has addressed issues such as empowerment and acceptance.
“I think that every time I write a song or release music, I want it to be consistent with my overall message, which is just accepting life on life’s terms and staying true to your emotions and self,” she says.
These are realisations born out of some tough life challenges, which included her battles with depression and substance abuse.
Another challenge Lovato and many of her peers deal with is the constant trolling on social media – for example, the online hate she is receiving for her hairstyle in the No Promises video.
The constant criticism once prompted Lovato to temporarily quit posting on social media, and instead left it to her management team.
Now, though, she says she is starting to find the right balance for her online interactions.
“I like to share things with my fans, so it is definitely important to connect with them on social media, but it is more about ignoring the hate and embracing the love you get from the feedback,” she says.
“I definitely get trolls on the internet and I get a lot of criticism whenever I speak out about the things that I believe in. But for the most part, when it comes to social media, I try to stay away from the comments and post whatever I feel like in that moment.”
The heady, intense nature of being a young celebrity has resulted in Lovato forging deep bonds with some of her peers, in particular fellow former Disney Channel actors-turned-pop stars Nick Jonas and Miley Cyrus.
Last Wednesday, she was spotted backstage enjoying a performance by fellow Mawazine Festival headliner Jonas, and she recently expressed her support for Cyrus on her decision to embrace sobriety.
“When you grow up in a certain environment and a certain place, you will always have that connection with people that were with you during those pivotal moments of your life, like when I was experienced fame for the first time,” she says.
“Those two people were part of my life at those moments and we will always have that bond.”
• No Promises by Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato is out now
sasaeed@thenational.ae