When Demi Lovato walked into the studio to record 'For You', she was nervous. Not because of the song itself, but because of who was in the room: Max Martin, one of the producers who shaped the album's sound. Lovato, the American singer, had already released four albums, but this session was different. It was part of her fifth studio album, Confident, and for the first time she was calling the shots. Demi Lovato released Confident on October 16, 2015.
A new label and a clean break
Confident arrived on 16 October 2015, and it marked a clean break. Lovato had left her previous management and helped launch Safehouse Records, a joint venture with her former manager Phil McIntyre and the singer Nick Jonas. On this label, she said, she controlled every aspect of her career. That control is what makes the album matter: it is the sound of an artist deciding who she wants to be.
That control is what makes the album matter: it is the sound of an artist deciding who she wants to be.
The album itself moved away from the bubblegum pop and synth-pop of her previous record Demi. Instead, Confident leaned into modern pop with dance and electropop elements, pulling in R&B, soul, EDM and urban influences. The title track opens with horns and finger snaps, a song about self-assurance and self-acceptance. That was the message, and the production backed it up. The album also gave space to different voices. On 'Kingdom Come', rapper Iggy Azalea joined for a trap-pop turn, while 'Waitin for You' brought in Sira for a darker R&B and hip-hop moment. Elsewhere, 'Stone Cold' kept the arrangement sparse so Lovato's vocal could carry the pain of watching an ex move on.
The quietest moment on the record
Yet the most striking moment on the album is its quietest. 'Father' is a ballad written about the father she lost in 2013. Its co-writer was the Swedish musician Laleh Pourkarim, who handled production and added backing vocals. Lovato has said recording it was therapeutic, helping her come to terms with complicated feelings about her father. She sings in a higher register to push the emotion further, and the song is a minimalist gospel piece, the most personal on the record.
The singles told a different story. 'Cool for the Summer' came out in July 2015 and reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, later going triple platinum in the US. The title track 'Confident' followed in September, hitting number 21 and topping the US Hot Dance/Club Songs chart. The album debuted at number 1 in Canada and reached the top 10 in fifteen more countries, among them the UK and the US.
That commercial success was matched by something Lovato had never received before: a Grammy nomination. Confident was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 59th Grammy Awards, her first career nomination. The recognition felt earned, because the album was not just a hit machine. It was a statement of independence, built with producers like Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzade and Jason Evigan, but driven by Lovato's own vision. The campaign around the record was playful as well as ambitious. Lovato hid boxes containing song previews in different places, and the first two were discovered in New York. A music video for 'Stone Cold' followed in February 2016, extending the album's life beyond its release.
To support the record, Lovato and Nick Jonas went on a joint tour, the Future Now Tour. It was a fitting pairing: two artists who had both taken control of their careers. For Lovato, Confident was the album that showed she was no longer just a voice for hire. She was the one deciding what came next.
Eleven years on, Confident stands as a turning point. The nervous singer in the studio with Max Martin became an artist with a Grammy nomination and a label she co-owned. The album's title track still opens with those horns and finger snaps, a small, sharp declaration of self-belief that said more than any press release could.