Story / Jennalynn Fung
Photographs / Michelle Sy
So much has modified for Thuy since her first interview with LADYGUNN. In April 2024, she turned the primary Vietnamese-American artist to carry out at Coachella. In Might 2024, she carried out on the 88rising Head within the Clouds (HITC) NY music competition. And on October 30th, she launched into her second world tour for her third undertaking, wings.
Thuy, too, has modified. She’s turn into extra comfy within the limelight, even asking for consideration at instances. For one, she’s dyed her hair a vibrant, sherbert pink; she explains, “Anytime you enter a brand new period, once you’re engaged on a brand new undertaking [wings], you want to vary it up – to sort of go together with the theme of the following period in your life.”
Within the daylight, her hair appears to be like prefer it’s on hearth. She’s shed her shyness like a butterfly emerges from their chrysalis, spreading their wings. She’s right here to take up the heat, notably from her followers, who’ve extra simply acknowledged her by her hair colour alone. “I used to be on Sundown in Los Angeles and I had pink hair. Any person yelled by the window: ‘Thuy, I really like your music!’ I used to be identical to, ‘what? That’s so loopy.’ So now, I’m gonna hold the hair for a little bit bit since you might spot me out. There’s like a degree of confidence that I really feel like I’m unlocking, simply from altering my hair colour.”
The final time she had sat down with LADYGUNN, she had revealed she was simply starting to get extra in contact together with her female aspect – she was determining find out how to really really feel horny. A 12 months later, she’s on her option to turning into an aphroditic most important pop-girlie. saying, “This can be a completely different Thuy that I really feel like has at all times been inside me.” Her music video for “don’t miss me an excessive amount of” was her alternative to carry it out of herself.
The music video begins with a darkish, puddle-filled bunker the place Thuy dons a hood earlier than strolling by a pair making out. The dance itself is sensual and sexual – everyone seems to be sporting both leather-based or sheer material on prime of sweaty pores and skin. Lights flash, our bodies transfer with the music, and the digicam’s body charge quickens after which lags. A mermaid in a tank mirrors Thuy’s actions, however offers a refuge from Thuy’s intense seductive stares, asking viewers to find out who the true siren is. It’s in contrast to any of the movies Thuy has put out earlier than, that are usually vibrant coloured and enjoyable, typically with a cameo from her canine, Oliver.
“I really feel like I’m at all times attempting to push myself additional, particularly visually. I’m at all times attempting to get out of one thing that feels comfy. Comfy for me is like eager to be in sweats and do nothing, you realize? However I really like with the ability to be in love with my physique, as a result of I feel that was at all times one thing that I struggled with,” she says. When speaking about her “Hair Down” music video, which was the primary single to be launched from the brand new album, Thuy giggles at how she had opted to put on a fuzzy thong.
Thuy mentions that she typically felt like she wasn’t skinny sufficient or the “good” physique kind. The songstress is of brief, however curvy stature; but her hyper female kind was one thing she didn’t see represented within the media as lovely. Rising up, although, she started to understand there was no such factor as good. Extra not too long ago, she’s felt optimistic about her personal physique, and he or she’s channeled that love in wings.
Her most streamed tune on this work stays “hair down,” an anthem of self love and empowerment.
The lyrics in her album additionally showcase her increasing perspective on love and need. Nevertheless, it’s bolder than ever, with the dialogue of sexual availability being much more express. Combining realizing what she desires with additionally realizing what she deserves, Thuy’s second work is clearly dedicated to the divine female.
In “whatchu gotta say,” she writes “You’ve been staring in my course all evening / Know simply what you want, would possibly get it from me // I’m the life, I’m the lifetime of the get together.”
Thuy’s eagerness comes by in observe 6, titled “shy boy,” the place she sings coaxing-ly to her lover “Keep in mind the nights we stayed up speaking? / We each wished we have been lip-locking / Had me dripping moist, want a brand new faucet.” There’s “roleplay,” which doesn’t mince any phrases, and is at instances painfully apparent the lengths she’ll go to please her companion, and most significantly herself. “D8” takes the literal to an entire new notch— at one level she is simply naming completely different sorts of dates somebody can take her on. The lyrics go on and on, even in unsuspecting songs like “fairy godmother” and “cloud 11.”
The depth and soulfulness of her music stay, although. In “crash and burn,” which sonically harks again to her older and hottest work, she sings “It’s deeper than you up on my physique / I’m tryna really feel what my coronary heart wishes / I’m up for days, I misplaced my thoughts / Ten million methods we crossed the road.” Thuy’s phrases of knowledge on realizing when to cease additionally demonstrates her prioritization of psychological well being.
On her Instagram story the day earlier than her efficiency at HITC, she posted “everybody has lows, it’s going to be okay as a result of I’ve been by them.” Thuy describes these moments as temp checks to grasp the place all of her followers are at the moment. “I like bonding over that sort of factor. Regardless that I could also be feeling good proper now, different persons are coping with their very own shit and that’s legitimate. Our emotions are legitimate. Issues are going to be okay. If it’s a must to gap up in your room and decay away and never discuss to anybody for nevertheless lengthy, that’s effective. I’ve accomplished that so many instances. I nonetheless try this on occasion as a result of it’s vital to simply be alone and course of your personal emotions.”
With Coachella and her rising follower base, she divulges that folks typically assume her life is ideal. However she states blatantly that’s not true in any respect:. “I do nothing outdoors of this [performance.] I’m so grateful to be right here, like ‘what the hell? That is your job. You get to carry out,’ and that’s a lot enjoyable for me. I really like doing that, I really like connecting with individuals. However on the finish of the day, I’m only a woman at residence sporting sweats, hanging together with her canine, occurring hikes, doing scorching yoga, doing all these items to assist my psychological area.” Sports activities are like remedy for her and have made her really feel extra comfy in her personal pores and skin.
In highschool, she used to wrestle (and he or she shared photos of those in her music video for “cloud 11”). To start with of the 12 months, she had been extra into pickleball. “Now, my new factor is scorching yoga,” she smiles indulgently. “I simply find it irresistible, prefer it’s been so good for my psychological state.”
She began doing scorching yoga in preparation for her Coachella efficiency. “My choreographer was like, ‘I feel it’d be actually good so that you can begin scorching yoga.’ I used to be sort of scared as a result of I feel going into any new territory is at all times scary. However I used to be like, ‘okay I feel I’m going to develop from this. And Coachella is basically scorching, so the warmth will assist me. I’m getting ready myself.’”
Thuy admits she’s been persevering with it even after Coachella, as a result of it was her time to sweat and be in tune together with her physique. She recommends everybody strive it as a result of it’s a “you factor. You do that by your self. You are taking what you may. It’s meditative for me. Like, when you get to a sure state of simply being so exhausted from the warmth, and then you definately’re on this pose, you’re holding it, and the instructors are guiding you thru all of it. It’s such as you’re trusting in your self, like, ‘you are able to do it.’ It helps quite a bit with psychological toughness and stability.”
She nonetheless struggles with every class she takes, however she feels that her stability has improved total. “In case you stay a life-style that’s fast-paced and also you want a while to decelerate, I might advocate scorching yoga. It’s best to strive it, strive all the pieces.”
Thuy takes her personal recommendation. In her quest to turn into a full-on performer, one thing she had made a objective a 12 months in the past, she’s added extra intense dance choreos into her stay reveals. Though she’s doubled the quantity of effort she places into her performances, she shares humbly that she didn’t anticipate there to be so many individuals coming to hearken to her. Particularly being that this was her second in a row Head within the Clouds efficiency. She says, “At each present that I’ve, [after] I end, I’m at all times like “okay, are individuals gonna need to come see me once more?’”
Thuy remembers being shocked by the turnout for her efficiency, describing the overwhelming assist she felt. “It’s at all times a shock to me after I see how many individuals confirmed up,” she says. “Individuals have been spilling out of the tent, and it was loopy. Proper up till I obtained on stage, I requested my workforce member, ‘Hey, are there individuals on the market?’ and he was like, ‘Persons are beginning to present up.’ And I used to be like, ‘Which means nobody’s there.’” She explains that she had stored her expectations low, so the sight of the packed crowd was a robust second. “After I hopped on stage and I noticed how many individuals have been there, I used to be like, ‘Wow. My group actually confirmed up for me.’ I’m grateful.”
The singer even journeyed to Vietnam together with her dad for a present. “Doing worldwide stuff is at all times annoying,” she prefaced. “Particularly touring. However I used to be actually appreciative as soon as he was already there. Like, ‘that is actually cool to share this second with my dad.’” Her gratitude solely deepened when her dad introduced her uncles she hasn’t seen since she was 15. “They stay within the village space of Vietnam, within the countryside. For them to come back into the town to look at me carry out, that was actually cool.”
With extra world excursions, collaborations, and releases underneath her belt, Thuy declares that she’s been feeling much less nervous lately. Though the nerves aren’t utterly gone, she says she’s discovered to deal with having enjoyable. “I’m not nervous to show who I’m to individuals,” she explains. “I’m going on stage like, ‘That’s me. I’m going to go up there and do my factor. And if it’s not for you, it’s not for you.’ I feel I ended caring.”
“Reside your life as if all the pieces is rigged in your favor” was a quote her teacher at her yoga class had shared, and phrases she had stored near her after listening to. Thuy believed she had at all times lived her life this manner, even when she wasn’t explicitly conscious of it. However listening to these phrases had validated all the pieces she had been working in the direction of.
She even referenced it on the workforce’s journey to New York from the west coast. They have been nearly late to catch their flight, however she instructed herself: “it’s effective, all the pieces’s going to work out.” She admitted that though they have been slicing it shut, all the pieces at all times works out. “You roll with the punches, and I feel that’s the place you may take pleasure in life a little bit bit extra – since you’re not hung up on issues which are out of your management,” she remarked.
What was in management, although, was the manufacturing of her songs on wings. She stays true to her R&B roots with songs like “whatchu gotta say” ft. Blxst, “crash & burn” and her title observe: “wings” – -as nicely as her well-liked singles “hair down” and “cloud 11.” But, Thuy intentionally adjustments issues up with songs “fairy godmother” and “D8”. These really feel influenced by the hyper-pop sound pioneered by Charli xcx, and is equally harking back to fellow Bay Space artist, Lolo Zouai’s second album: PLAYGIRL, particularly the observe “VHS.”
Even songs like “shy boy” and “roleplay” are a hair lighter than what Thuy usually releases. They really feel blissfully harmonious and carefree, with elevated whispers which are near falsetto.
The singer is aware of she will sound angelic, however she is attempting to be extra dynamic than ghat. It’s as if she feels magnificence can solely get her to date, and he or she desires to flesh out her id as a singer by crafting music that’s uncooked and actual, slightly than simply fairly. “I’m experimenting with my voice, studying to make use of it in ways in which I’ve by no means accomplished earlier than,” she shares. “However on the identical time I need to mess around with my voice extra as a result of I feel that’s the cool half about being an artist.”
Thuy has curiosity in attempting completely different tones, resembling a spoken phrase, rapping vibe— and completely different producers. She’s decided to push past what she’s already confirmed to the world. She’s greater than a singer of her personal priority, however a dynamic artist. She describes wings as: “Extra of an elevated Thuy.”
