'Shoot For The Stars Or Don’t Shoot': Lauren Spencer Smith On Her Debut Album, Manifestation & Confrontation With Teachers

Fresh off the release of her debut album, Mirror, on July 14, Lauren Spencer Smith is enjoying the fruits of a three-year labour that has seen her explore the depths of her soul on the world stage – and she’s given it the perfect name. 

On the album title, she says, “The one thing in my life that has seen me through everything – the good, the bad, and the mentally unstable – has been my bathroom mirror.”

After all, the mirror doesn’t lie, and the one belonging to Spencer Smith has played a critical role in helping her process her emotions and bare her soul. 

The stratospheric success of her hit single Fingers Crossed is evidence of this, paving the way for six more tracks: Flowers, Narcissist, 28, Best Friend Breakup, Fantasy and, most recently, That Part – a song about the anticipation of the beautiful, pivotal moments in a relationship. 

The making of the latest single also represented a key moment in the singer’s relationship, marking not only the first song she wrote about her boyfriend, Matt Odell, but also their first time featuring in a music video together. 

“I never in a million years would have asked [Matt] to do it or thought he would want to do it – I definitely felt nervous about it because he had never done something like that – but he was more than willing to be in the video and be the actual representation of what the song was about. It all just kind of worked out.” 

Above all else, Spencer Smith was shooting for the opposite of cliche in the final music video cut – so naturally, the beautiful spectacle of true love won out. 

“People kept telling us that they were playing That Part in their weddings or at their vow renewals or in any other situation that represents love – whether it’s prom, a proposal or a wedding – so we decided to involve real people. We just wanted to include all types of love. We put something on my Instagram story that pretty much just said, ‘Reach out if you are doing any of these four things in the next month; we would love to include you in the video’, and a bunch of people sent in submissions.”

The single followed Fantasy, a collaboration with GAYLE and Em Beihold that also got its own video treatment. Visuals make a triple threat out of a girl power anthem that boasts all the same biting lyricism fans have come to expect, and if you ask Spencer Smith, filming was every bit as fun as it looks. 

“It was so much fun. Doing a video with others is 100 times more fun than doing it yourself. GAYLE and Em are the kindest people in the entire world. They're so fun to be around – they're so, so talented and so uplifting to other people and other artists – and it was really cool to be around them and witness their talent.”

Of course, it’s videos like these, celebrating creativity and collaboration over competition, that champion Lauren’s beliefs on confidence and comparison in the music industry. 

“When it comes to music, I've always believed that I'm able to succeed at the exact same time that somebody else is able to succeed and that what makes people different is what makes them who they are.

“There’s always going to be someone better. My mom has always told me that my entire life – that I'm never going to be the best, and there's always going to be somebody better who wants it more and is going to work harder – but my mentality is that you can always improve and get better.” 

A constant since childhood, this attitude of humility and hard work was key to her growth during the formative years of her career and her time on American Idol. Coming from a small town, Spencer Smith knows that her 16-year-old self had a lot to learn and learn she did. 

“Growing up in a small town, I was never around other singers or other musicians, so it was really cool and eye-opening to be around other people who were extremely talented. I feel like being able to see what other people excelled at – things that I had to work on in order to improve – was really important in my trajectory. 

“There were so many amazing songwriters on the show, and I knew I couldn't write a song at that point to save my life. There were also certain areas – things like falsetto and runs – that I didn't realise I wasn't as strong at until I was able to witness other people's talent and see where my flaws and my strengths were, and I think it was really important for my growth as an artist and a person.”

It seems American Idol was a natural progression for a young singer with a strong sense of direction and a healthy disdain for teachers whose scathing comments kill dreams of performing arts careers. Spencer Smith knew from a young age that the routine pathway of high school into further study into the workforce was never her Plan A – and that she doesn’t believe in Plan B, anyway – but it didn’t stop her teachers from trying to steer her in another direction. 

“In your younger years, when you say you want to be a singer, every teacher is supportive and on board because that's what they're supposed to do. When you get to high school, that switches a little bit because everyone thinks that creative industries are impossible to get into. That was when I started having disagreements with teachers about what my life plan was going to be because it did not involve school. There really was no other path – there was no other thing that I was good at my entire life other than doing music,” Spencer Smith said. 

“I actually bumped into one of my least favourite teachers in my hometown the other day. He used to tell me every day that my goal was not realistic and I should be doing something else instead, but this time when he saw me, he said, ‘I feel like I owe you a really big apology because I didn't realise that you were already miles above the rest of the class. You had everything that you were going to do figured out in your head, and I tried to make you into something that you weren't.’” 

Spencer Smith doesn’t shy away from her past and the trajectory she has taken up to this point, but her true focus is all about the future – and with dreams like these, it seems there’s always something great in the pipeline. 

“I'm a big manifester of the big things,” she says. “I'm very unapologetically manifesting, like, 30 Grammys, selling out the Rogers Arena at my hometown show in Vancouver, having a number one song on Billboard and a number one radio song... I always think, shoot for the stars or don't shoot – but honestly, I would really just love to tour the world and just have my music be heard by as many people as possible.” 

Following in the footsteps of Adele, one of her biggest personal and musical inspirations, and contemporaries like Olivia Rodrigo, Spencer Smith has derived a sound of her own. 

“I was obsessed with Adele – I would try to sound like her, to enunciate things the same way that she did – so I think she's had a very big impact on my sound. I always loved singing her music and her songwriting, and she was a very big inspiration from day one. I want to do ballads and big, belty sad songs.”

It’s no coincidence, then, that “sad” is exactly what Australian fans can expect to see on Spencer Smith’s upcoming sold-out Australian tour, which is also her first trip Down Under. 

“Yeah, you can expect a lot of tears, probably, from the audience, but have some really cool covers. I'm covering an Adele song that I'm really excited about. I'm going to play all the songs that I could possibly play so no one feels like their favourite song was skipped. I know that Australian crowds are gonna go absolutely wild. If the DMs I get from Australian fans are any indication, there is just going to be the best energy at shows. I'm so ready for it. I also can’t wait to see the animals – the koalas and kangaroos.” 

Lauren Spencer Smith starts her run of sold-out Australian shows on Friday, 27 October, in Melbourne, followed by Sydney on 29 October and Brisbane on 1 November. Mirror is out now – you can listen to the album below.