Maggie Lindemann Laid on a Real Bed of Nails for Her New Album Cover — and Yes, It Hurt: ‘I Was Super Bruised’ (Exclusive)

Maggie Lindemann went done a batch while making her caller album.

The alt-pop artist's 2nd full-length album, I Feel Everything, was released connected Friday, Oct. 17 aft much than a twelvemonth successful nan useful — nan longest she's ever spent connected a azygous project.

"I kept talking to my family and my friends astir nan situations I was in, and I kept saying, 'Dude, I conscionable consciousness everything. I'm emotion truthful much,'" Lindemann, 27, tells PEOPLE of its title. "I was emotion a batch of highs, lows, confusion, sadness, happiness, pain, each of it. I was virtually emotion everything."

Lindemann started penning I Feel Everything in March 2024, nan aforesaid period her Headsplit EP was released. At nan time, she was successful a narration pinch NBA subordinate Jordan Clarkson and fresh to grow her replacement sound to see much physics and popular elements heard connected caller tracks for illustration "One of nan Ones," nan album's explosive lead single. "I'm perpetually trying to evolve," she says.

As an independent artist, Lindemann gets to telephone nan shots and doesn't consciousness "restricted" by immoderate big-time grounds explanation executives. The medium was astir done astatine nan apical of nan year, but past she and Clarkson, 33, split. So, she extended her clip successful nan studio. "Obviously, I had immoderate worldly to say," she notes.

"If you perceive nan songs that came earlier nan breakup versus after, I knew it was coming. I knew it was thing that I needed to do," explains Lindemann, who started making love Clarkson successful 2022. "And past nan aft is almost for illustration a weight lifted disconnected my shoulders."

The other workplace clip resulted successful songs for illustration "Evil," featuring lyrics astir a partner who often plays nan "victim" successful a relationship. "Thought I saw emotion successful your eyes / Turns retired it was mine," she sings.

"If I emotion you, I don't want to spot nan bad successful you. I americium ever going to spot nan bully successful you. Even if you virtually do maine successful nan worst way, I'm still going to someway spot nan bully successful you," says Lindemann. "With that song, I yet snapped a small bit."

Creating "Evil" allowed Lindemann to consciousness nan anger she'd been suppressing. "It's okay to beryllium huffy and not excuse someone's behavior," she urges.

Such experiences inspired Lindemann's determination to airs while laying connected a furniture of nails for nan I Feel Everything cover artwork. "I americium putting myself connected this furniture of nails to consciousness pain, to beryllium stuck, erstwhile I could virtually conscionable guidelines up and locomotion away," she says. "There's truthful galore different meanings down nan cover, but mainly, beauty is symptom and loving personification is pain."

And for anyone wondering, yes, nan photoshoot was physically painful. "Everyone thinks that it didn't wounded because there's a instrumentality to a furniture of nails. If each nan nails are evenly distributed and each nan aforesaid height, past if you evenly administer your assemblage weight connected it, it's not expected to hurt," she explains. "But we made this furniture of nails ourselves."

"If you look astatine nan picture, you tin spot that nan nails are not evenly connected nan board. So it very overmuch did hurt," continues Lindemann. "I was ace bruised connected my full side."

As its title suggests, I Feel Everything encompasses measurement much than conscionable nan darker periods of her life while creating nan project. Songs for illustration "One of nan Ones" and "Lost Cause" characteristic high-energy creation thumps fresh for nightclubs, while "Let Me Burn" pinch The Warning and "2022" pinch Julia Wolf people nosy collaborations reminiscent of early-2000s alt-pop from Avril Lavigne and Evanescence.

"It was nosy to person fun. I consciousness for illustration I've been truthful depressed and angsty for a while and I was like, 'Oh my God, I conscionable want to person fun,'" says Lindemann, who insists she's "not a depressed personification successful existent life."

"I consciousness for illustration that's a meme pinch replacement girls," quips nan performer. "Everyone thinks that we're ever going to beryllium like, 'Yeah, I'm ace dark, and I for illustration decease and going to nan cemetery and worldly for illustration that.' And past astir of us, erstwhile you talk to us, we're really bubbly and really really happy usually."