Julia Michaels has never been one to keep her cards close to the chest. Since her early days penning raw, gut-punching pop for Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber, she’s made a name for herself as one of the most surgically precise lyricists in the game. But with Second Self, a six-track independent release on her own GFY Records, Michaels flips the table entirely — not just showing her hand but daring you to beat it.
Second Self isn’t just a new chapter. It’s the book Julia Michaels has been trying to write her entire career — one where she owns the publishing, the prose, and the punchlines. These songs don’t beg for radio play. They don’t cater to trends. They bite, bleed, and break up with your expectations.
Take “Try Your Luck,” the EP’s lead track and centerpiece. It’s a cheeky satire on dating fatigue, executed with a wink and a snarl. The accompanying video — which Michaels co-directed — is a riotous casting-call fever dream, where ventriloquists and red-flag-dodgers audition for her affection. It’s not just hilarious; it’s surgical. In a world of sanitized pop videos, this feels like a sledgehammer to the algorithm.
There’s a clarity of intent on this project that feels almost rebellious. “GFY” and “F.O.O.L.” are not written to be subtle. They’re breakup anthems for the emotionally literate and the emotionally exhausted. “Heaven II” feels like a confessional whispered in a bathroom stall at 2 a.m., while “Scissors” takes the metaphor of cutting ties and turns it into a hook sharp enough to draw blood.
Sonically, the EP leans into a stripped-down, alt-pop rawness. It’s got polish, but not the kind that gets rinsed through a dozen A&R meetings. This is pop for grown women, battle-scarred romantics, and anyone who’s ever said, “I’m fine,” through gritted teeth.
