Cat Burns knows just how turbulent—and transformative—your early twenties can be. “I think there’s a saying that says, ‘When you are 18 you think you know everything; when you’re 22 you realize you know nothing,’” the South London singer-songwriter tells Apple Music. “It’s such a formative time in everyone’s lives.” Those early adult years—and all the chaos, clarity, and, often, pain they can bring—provided the fuel for Burns’ debut, the simply titled early twenties. “I think I’ve always had a fixation with growing up—even the first little EP I put out when I was 16 was called Adolescent,” she notes. “I knew I wanted to have my album speak about age.” (Unfortunately, she adds, a certain other British pop star already came up with the concept of naming your albums after specific, life-altering ages, so early twenties it was.) But, if this record delves into classic territory for that time of life—youthful love, heartbreak, discovering your own character traits and flaws (see the unexpectedly upbeat “people pleaser”)—early twenties also finds solace in the certainty that you and your mates are all going through it together, and that one day the turbulence will pass. It’s what lies behind the jubilance of “live more & love more” or “know that you’re not alone,” and the wisdom of the India.Arie-featuring “healing” or “boy crazy,” a woozy love letter to Burns’ younger self before she realized she was queer. It’s an honest listen, but always with a message of hope and resilience. “One of my main whys of making music is always to make people feel less alone and [make] people feel seen,” says Burns. She wants you to “feel all of your feelings, but don’t dwell in it because there’s going to be another song to help you come out of it.” Read on as Burns talks us through her moving, cathartic debut—one track at a time. “alone” “I wrote ‘alone’ with Steve Mac, who is a legend [he’s had a hand in the 30 different UK Singles Chart-topping songs]. I was apprehensive about the session, because I don’t really tend to write the best songs with people who have had massive hits. But we got along really well. I just started word-vomiting to him about my friends who have said, ‘We’re about to be in our mid-twenties; I’m enjoying life by myself, but everyone’s talking about this romantic connection and love that seems to be really lovely, and I have yet to experience that.’ I liked the idea of it feeling like a really dramatic song—I think Gen Z just are quite dramatic! I wanted the drama to begin and grip you and then take you on a journey.” “go” “‘go’ probably will always be the most important song to me because it changed the speed and trajectory of my career. It’s not a song that I ever want to forget. Every time I perform it, I’m reminded that it’s not my song, it’s the people who have listened to it, it’s the people who’ve related to it. I wanted to put it quite close to the beginning just to be like, ‘This is me and this is what you are probably waiting for. So here you go, now enjoy the rest.’” “boy crazy” “I wrote this with Jonny Lattimer [songwriter, producer, and musician who’s worked with Ellie Goulding, Tom Grennan, and Rina Sawayama]. He started playing the bass part on the guitar, and this song just flew out of me. I thought, ‘This could be a really lovely love letter to my younger self in the style of this old-time, prom dance type of song.’ My generation and maybe older queer people didn’t get to have, really, that sort of prom night, where you’re allowed to be with who you want to be with. I think it was quite healing for me. I wanted to make a really lovely, wholesome song for people to think back to their younger selves, but also for younger queer people to hear and think, ‘Oh, actually I do identify with this.’” “this is what happens” “I wrote it with [producer and songwriter] Yakob in LA. I was there for two weeks, and this was my last session and I was like, ‘I miss working with the Brits. I just want to go home.’ But we met and got on really well. I was in a new country, everything was loud, everything was big, everything was sensory overload, and I just felt so overwhelmed. So I was like, ‘Why can’t I make a song about being anxious?’ It’s such a fun song even though it’s talking about something sad. Two things can be true at the same time: You can be really anxious and not want to leave your house and still want to have a dance to this song.” “people pleaser” “I went into the studio with [producers and songwriters] Jordan Riley and Gerard O’Connell and said, ‘I really struggle to say no to people.’ Jordan started playing some chords and I was like, ‘This could be quite fun.’ The song just wrote itself. The lyrics and chorus are quite sad. But again, I wanted it to be a happy-go-lucky sounding song to have a juxtaposition to make it not feel like it’s the end of the world.” “live more & love more” “I went into the session with the same guys as ‘people pleaser,’ and I was like, ‘I would love to make something that is just quite inspiring, that could get people to want to try something.’ Essentially, what the chorus says, if there is something that you want to try and do, just do it because we only get one life to try things, so there’s no point living with regrets. I wanted to do that in as non-cringe a way as possible.” “jodie” “I wrote ‘jodie’ with an amazing writer called Simon Aldred. I wanted to write a timeless love song—a ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ vibe. Simon came up with the chords and the lyrics flew out. I could draw upon my first love—I just wanted to make a really lovely love song for her because she was love personified for me, but also to showcase queer love, especially at the end where it says, ‘Our love goes rings around the sun, and they try and slow it down.’ This was a love song for the person—but also for the community, a love letter to queer love, and the beauty of how pure and natural it is.” “you don’t love me anymore” “It’s actually not about anything specific, but a concept that I’ve always wanted to write about. I think the uncertainty of love is such a big thing for a lot of people. And I think a lot of people have that fear that someone will just leave them because they don’t love them anymore—that swift change is really unsettling to think about. I wanted to make a song about that saying, ‘I’d actually rather you have met somebody else than just saying you don’t love me anymore, because I don’t really know how to get closure from that.’” “no more” “This is actually about a friend who came out of a longtime relationship, where he didn’t feel seen at all, he didn’t feel like any of his efforts were respected or valued. I thought that was a really interesting concept. It’s going, ‘OK, well, you didn’t see that so you won’t see me again.’ It’s a short and sweet song—only two minutes. Once I’ve said this twice or three times, that’s it. That’s the last time you’ll hear from me and see me.” “happier without you” “It’s about a friend, again, who came out of a long-term relationship. I remember I was there for her quite a bit through her realizing that she did not want to be with him anymore and this was not the right relationship for her. I wanted to make a song that’s sad and somber, but hopeful at the same time.” “healing” (feat. India.Arie) “I’ve loved India’s music since I was young—she’s one of my biggest inspirations. I covered a few of her songs back in 2020, and she heard one of them and followed me, and said, ‘I think you’re really great. Anything I can ever do to help or just be a part of your journey, I would love to.’ Nothing came of it until I wrote ‘healing.’ I could really hear India on it—she makes healing, purposeful, intentional music about feeling close to yourself and feeling centered within yourself. I sent her the song and she loved it. When she sent over her verse, I was like, ‘This is the most perfect way to end the album.’ People in their early twenties, we always end up getting advice from people older than us who say, ‘You will be fine.’ You find it really dismissive, but they have gone through this probably multiple times, and they’ve come out the other end each time. The fundamental thing is everything is going to be OK and it will pass, and we’ll go into the next stage of our life. So that’s why I ended it with that song.” Deluxe tracks “I wanted to include as many of the songs that I’ve released because they all say something about my journey. ‘Free’ is the closest song to me, just because of how much it’s helped people and the messages I’ve received about it. So it always will be really close to my heart. And ‘introvert,’ I wrote that pre all of my diagnoses [Burns has both ADHD and ASD] and so it has a different tone to it when I hear it because I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, you were just very neurodivergent but didn’t realize it yet, so you said introvert instead of maybe something else.’ These are all songs that mean a lot to me, and I think all have shaped how I’ve come to be and the type of artist that I am right now. It wouldn’t be telling the full story without them.”