Caturday With Lexa Gates – “Nothing To Worry About” and the Art of Release

Eloise Barratt: “Nothing To Worry About” lands as a declaration of ease in a world that rarely allows it. What was the spark for this track? Was there a moment when the phrase itself crystallised into a song?
Lexa Gates: I didn’t want to go to the studio that day but I forced myself because, why not. I try to only write positive things, be intentional on paper at least. So it ended up being some complaints shifting to a resolution, Nothing To Worry About was naturally the next line.

EB: Your lyrics balance confidence and vulnerability so seamlessly — “I know who I am, I know who I am not, not not” feels both direct and intimate. How do you approach writing when you’re in that emotional grey zone, where certainty and doubt overlap? And more broadly, how does songwriting become a way of testing or even reshaping your own sense of identity?
LG: The balance of black and white is omnipresent and obvious in my mind, I like to play into the two extremes. I’m constantly having to self reflect and readjust my beliefs about life and the art itself. I have no choice.

EB: Your lyrics often balance lightness with a deeper undercurrent of vulnerability. With “Nothing To Worry About” you step into reassurance — how do you write from that space while still keeping it intimate and real?
LG: It is intimate and real that there’s nothing to worry about. If you know where you’re going and have faith in yourself and the universe being on your side, these ideas flourish naturally. I’m just saying anything on my mind at the moment, the art comes from the day lived before. The lessons of life, whatever I know.

EB: Sonically, this track feels buoyant yet textured, carrying both groove and subtle tension. What shaped its soundscape? Did you arrive with a clear vision, or did it emerge in the studio?
LG: It emerged in the studio, Billy Lemos is goated. Has such a fresh yet overstimulating sound. It all flowed together, there was really nothing planned.

EB: You previously worked with Jasper Harris and Aaron Shadrow on the production of Latency — two heavyweights in their own right. What was that collaboration like, and how did it evolve the sound of “Nothing To Worry About”?
LG: It was so fun to work with Jasper and Aaron, they are genuinely some of the best people I’ve ever met. They have so many ideas and such a clear vision. In a way, experiences like those solidify that there’s Nothing To Worry About.

EB: The visual language around your music is always layered and symbolic. What can you share about the imagery or world you’re building around “Nothing To Worry About”?
LG: For the vision of this song I saw a field, the sun shining in my eyes, a flag being waved. Maybe to signify acceptance, or just to surrender to the shackles of fear and anxiety about the future. Who cares. It’s never that deep.

EB: With I Am… now officially announced, how does this single serve as an entry point into the larger album? Does it capture the album’s essence, or does it stand in contrast as a moment of release?
LG: I am; is the practice of developing an image of self that cannot be shaken. It’s me learning about my work and the world, love and heartbreak in business. Not even a silly school crush type of thing. I am, is just serious. Straight to the point. I think that this single is on the lighter side of things.

8. EB: You’ve just wrapped your first-ever headline tour, with sold-out shows across the US and EU. How did that live experience shape the way you approached releasing something as affirming and open as “Nothing To Worry About”?
   LG: I was so scared of what would happen, what people would think, if anyone would come and for what? Now it’s just passed. It all went amazing, every day was perfect. I’m moving on to the next part of things with less fear. I’m finally more experienced and aware. I truly enjoyed all of it, even parts that I didn’t.

9. EB: If Elite Vessel was about self-discovery and ambition, and Latency is about desire deferred, what’s the emotional or sonic terrain you’re drawn to next?
   LG: Everything is about self-discovery and ambition to me. I’m obsessed with moving forward, with change, evolution.

10. EB: You’ve staged performances that blur the line between music, installation and endurance art — like the 10-hour transparent box in New York. Looking ahead, do you see I Am… extending into other art forms beyond the record itself?
    LG: Yeah we have some wild art planned

11. EB: On the back of that — spending 10 hours inside a transparent box, completely visible — what did that almost paranormal experience of being watched mean to you? Both as a woman and as an artist who’s constantly under observation, how did that exposure shape the way you think about visibility, control and intimacy?
    LG: I enjoyed it because all I had to do was sit, it was awesome. I don’t care about being exposed.

12. EB: You’ve been co-signed by SZA and Clairo, but your voice and vision remain singular. Do you feel the industry is beginning to catch up to your lane — or are you still actively carving it?
    LG: I’m in my own lane, lowkey my own genre too.