Teen sensation Grace VanderWaal opens up about songwriting struggles in new single 'Stray'

Grace VanderWaal has been riding a bicycle blindfolded, figuratively, she says.

Oh, and literally.

In the music video for the 15-year-old singer/songwriter's first single of 2019, "Stray," out Friday, the former "America's Got Talent" champ shows of her terrifically raspy voice while barefoot on a bike and wearing a black scarf over her eyes near Joshua Tree National Park in California.

She says her "super scary" stunt is meant to be symbolic and embody "that personality of taking risks and not knowing what I'm gonna do," she says. In reality, "if you zoom into my face, I was low-key petrified. I saw a very little slit of road in front of me, a terribly, bumpy desert road."

VanderWaal is used to taking risks, however. It was frightening to play her ukele for a televised talent show ("AGT") in 2016 when she was only 12, it was a leap for her to put out a full-length album and go on tour in 2017 at age 13, and it was way outside of her comfort zone to take on the title role of "Stargirl," her first movie that's slated to arrive on Disney's streaming platform later this year.

The musician/actress/model chatted with USA TODAY about her new projects by phone, while getting ready to attend a New York Fashion Week event this month.

Q: Your new song "Stray" has lyrics about longing "to feel the way I used to" and wanting to "write a song" and "feel my words." Does it have anything to do with writers' block?

VanderWaal: When I was on tour, I wrote many songs, definitely enough to have a very short EP. But they were all off. And I was afraid that I was losing that thing, you know? So that's why I mention writing in the song. I want to be able to write again, the way I used to.

Q: Since writing "Stray," do you feel like your songwriting mojo is back?

VanderWaal: Since ("Stray") I've written! There's lots of plans for more music. I've been focusing on school, which means more time to write songs and more material to write songs about.

Q: In your new video, you sing in the desert and also bike-ride while blindfolded. Was that dangerous?

VanderWaal: I did fall once. And I was very proud of myself (for only falling once). The van with all the cameras would speed up to get me to go faster. I was scared out of my mind.

Q: You just finished shooting the movie "Stargirl," about a once-homeschooled teenager who serenades classmates in her new public school. Was acting different from what you expected?

VanderWaal: I was in a play once when I was 8 or 9, but making a movie is pretty eye-opening. When I'm watching a movie now, I see things and know how they made it.

After every take, they would take pictures of me and my co-star (for continuity). Now every time I watch a movie, I'll see someone's necklace pop from inside of their shirt to the outside, or their ponytail move. I never (noticed continuity errors) before.

Q: You play the ukulele in this movie. Did that feel similar to performing in your music videos?

VanderWaal: It's so different. In music videos, I'm not really acting but bringing emotions that I know I felt. In the movie, it's not my words, not my memories, not my feelings. It's hard to channel an emotion that you never experienced.

Q: Think you'll pursue more acting projects?

VanderWaal: I think that's it for now. I'm not trying to set my eyes on anything. I've got my music.

Q: Is any new music you're listening to inspiring your songwriting?

VanderWaal: These past couple months I've been listening to ("Good as Hell" singer) Lizzo. She's so genuinely her, it's actually changed me. She's helped me with self-confidence and self-love. She's the reason why I have friends.

Q: You've probably helped some of your own fans in similar ways.

VanderWaal: It's so surreal that anyone would even have feelings close to (the ones I have for Lizzo), like toward me.

From 2018: Grace VanderWaal talks new single 'Clearly' and learning to model

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Teen sensation Grace VanderWaal opens up about songwriting struggles in new single 'Stray'