Hilary Duff’s new album Luck… or Something was born out of a need to reconnect with herself. “I think that part of my wanting to make a record was coming out of having my fourth child,” the 38-year-old, mom to daughters Banks, 7, Mae, 4, and Townes, 21 months, with singer-songwriter husband Matthew Koma, and son Luca, 13, with ex-husband Mike Comrie, recently told the L.A. Times. “I love motherhood, obviously,” insisted Hilary. “But I think I felt really jealous that [Matthew] got to go to work every day and just be alone with his thoughts.” She needed to stretch her mind, too. “I’m either gonna lose myself completely and just become a stay-at-home mom and wait for the phone to ring,” Hilary explained of her mindset at the time. “Or I’m gonna go make something that moves me.”
The resulting album — her first in more than 10 years — reflects this new chapter she’s in. “Even five years ago, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable to say some of the things I say on the record,” she admitted in Interview magazine, adding, “You just get to a point of not giving a f**k.” While the former child star felt free being herself, she is aware she has a fan base who’s known her for decades. “Of course, I want people to love it and I want it to be reviewed well,” the Lizzie McGuire alum added. “But at the end of the day, I’m going to come back to my four kids and my husband who I’m obsessed with, and we’re going to close the door.”
Back To The Beginning
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For someone who already released five albums, it’s surprising that Hilary admits music isn’t her “natural” milieu. “I grew up an actor kid,” she explained. “I wanted to be a pop star and I did those things. But I had a child and I got divorced.” (In 2014, she and NHL player Mike announced their “amicable” split.) “I was trying to navigate all these things as a very young adult, and doing music felt too forward-facing and too scary and exposed,” she said. Instead, she focused on motherhood. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to learn how to be the best mom I can be,’” she recalled. “I took some acting jobs, some really random poor choices and some great choices — like taking Younger, that changed my life.”
Despite finding success on the small screen for six seasons, Hilary was still hesitant to return to music. “I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have the safety and the confidence to execute it like I have now,” the “Come Clean” singer confessed. “I also wasn’t desperate to connect with people the way I am now. I feel this pull to share and be a part of people’s lives again.”
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That said, she had an unwelcome viral moment with Ashley Tisdale’s recent essay on The Cut in which the 40-year-old accused her mom group — presumably including Hilary — of being “toxic” mean girls. “I felt sad. I honestly felt sad,” Hilary said on the Call Her Daddy podcast. Saying she felt “used,” she added, “It sucks to read something that’s, like, not true.”
Return To The Spotlight
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Fans see a new side of Hilary on the album, produced by her husband. “Whether it’s about abandonment or anxiety or feeling insecure in your relationship or being cheated on or feeling like you don’t recognize yourself anymore in motherhood — that’s just what life is at this age,” she explained of the mature themes. Her song list reflects that. “We Don’t Talk” addresses her estrangement from sister Haylie Duff while “Holiday Party” is about a recurring dream in which Matthew cheats on her with her friends. “Roommates” is the song that has everyone talking, however. In it, she sings about missing the raunchy good times at the beginning of a relationship. “I don’t want the end / Want the part where you say ‘Goddamn’ / Back of the dive bar, give you h**d.”
It’s not what people are used to hearing from a former teen star (she clarified she’d never actually performed oral sex at a bar), but Hilary isn’t a teen anymore. And with age comes… experience. “My whole twenties, sex was not always enjoyable — it was so much to figure out,” she told the Times. “Now I finally understand it. Maybe that’s a female thing, but I’m not ready to be put out to pasture.” Even if people have trouble reconciling that image with the woman she is now. “People come up to me all the time and they’re like, ‘Wow, you aged really well,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘I’m only 38! Just because you’ve known me since I was 9…’”
This story Hilary Duff Admits She ‘Honestly Felt Sad’ and ‘Used’ After Ashley Tisdale Slammed ‘Toxic Mom Group’ first appeared on Star. Add Star as a Preferred Source by clicking here.