Self Esteem is “going to take a few months off” later this year because she needs a “breather”.
The 39-year-old singer – whose real name is Rebecca Taylor – dropped her third studio album A Complicated Woman in 2025 and she’s since been starring in the play Teeth ‘N’ Smiles in London’s West End. She’s returning to music for this summer’s festival season but then will be taking some well deserved time off.
She told NME: “Well I took a breather, but I did a play so I’m still in a play at the minute so I still need a bit of a breather. I’m going to do festivals this summer and then I’m going to take a few months off to have a think [about what comes next]. And then I’ll be [ready] … “
Self Esteem went on to reveal she will be using her time off to “think” about her next album, adding: “I’ve got an idea about what my next record is and I think I’m [ready].
“But if you’re not careful, it’s just more and more and more in an industry that will take more and more if you give it. So I’m making myself stop so I can have a think and I can make some better art for it.”
It comes after the pop star admitted she was left feeling “knackered” and “fed up” around the time she released her 2025 record A Complicated Woman.
She told The Independent newspaper: “When things went well for me finally, I just got distracted from the actual goal of what music is.”
The singer went on to insist throwing herself into theatre helped her rediscover the purpose of music for her.
She added: “I can’t understand being alive. It’s so mental to me. I want to understand it. I want to feel it.”
In her childhood, she once stood on the sofa and imaged “it was like a f****** mountain top”, and she wants “that feeling again”.
She’s written a new track They’re Just Songs as a way of helping her figure out her emotions and explained: “It’s about going, you know what? Like, it’s ruined my life.
“Sometimes I’ve been rock-bottom depressed because of music. And I’m like, it’s just songs, though? You’ve got a f****** roof over your head.”