With the lyrics that I wanted to write, the people in the studio would look at it like it was garbage and like I was crazy. It was apparent that I just wasn’t fitting in. Gallant: When I started making music in the first place, I felt like I was an outcast because I’ve been trying to fit into the mainstream culture and do things that would be commercially successful. SPIN: It’s a ballsy move for artists to leave that mainstream cushion. SPIN spoke with Gallant about his decision to be an independent artist and R&B’s mainstream resurgence. But the title matched the somber introspection of it all and magically made sense.”įrom the forlorn “Relapse” to taking steps to heal on “Chemical Romance,” Neptune signifies Gallant’s next chapter of musical freedom. He continues: “I didn’t want to dive too deep into the isolated part ‘cause it wasn’t just a quarantine project. I paid attention to little space references that were coming to my head.” “I knew that was going to be a really internal record where I’m going over past mistakes, try to atone for things I’ve done wrong, and then trying to find my footing again. “It started with ‘Relapse,’ which was the first song that I wrote from realizing that the label thing wasn’t working out,” he says of the EP’s title origin. Neptune is the culmination of those feelings. In 2019, he followed up with Sweet Insomnia but soon realized that something was off with his label connection. It’s a passion that couldn’t remain stifled under a mainstream umbrella.īorn Christopher Gallant, the artist signed with Warner Records in 2016 - the same year as the release of his Grammy-nominated Ology debut. Being an introverted person, Gallant completely throws himself into his music. “I’m still going through mixes the day before it’s supposed to go live on Spotify,” Gallant tells SPIN of his new Neptune EP.ĭuring our chat over Zoom (he’s stationed at his parents’ Maryland home), the artist reveals he’d been tinkering with the EP as I was listening prior to its March 26 release. As a newly independent artist, it’s clear the R&B singer wants his reemergence to be perfect.

Christopher gallant