Nightmare

Nightmare (stylized in all uppercase) is the second studio album by American singer Kylie Jenson, released on October 23, 2020, by Ethereal Records. It comes fourteen months after her previous album and a series of hiatuses. The album established Jenson's presence in the pop rock genre, and she enlisted multiple producers and writers to conceive the project. Jenson created the project in only three months, following the positive reviews of the EP Bad Karma which was released five months prior.

The album was preceded by the singles "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart", "Mother's Daughter" and "California Dreamin". The former did not appear on the album, but it was later featured on Jenson's third album Forever in 2021.

Background and recording
Recording for a follow-up to Jenson's first studio album Medicate began in summer 2019 and continued during the Medicate World Tour for the remainder of the year. At the end of each show, an outro titled "Honestly" played - which led fans to believe it was teasing a second album. She released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single to a second studio album in January 2020, but ultimately plans for the album halted after the release of the single due to the project "not feeling right" according to Jenson.

In June 2020 Jenson returned with an extended-play titled Bad Karma, which was well-received amongst fans. Following the EP, she began working on new material, the first song being "Gimmie What I Want." Jenson worked on the album during the summer and fall of 2020, working with countless friends and family members. Her sister Brianna Jenson pitched a song she had written for herself called "Mother's Daughter", which later became the lead single. She stated the album "happened very naturally, especially after we did the song 'Nightmare'. We knew we had something when we finished that one."

Release and promotion
Jenson released "Nothing Break Like a Heart" with Justin Carter in September 2020 as a stand-alone single. Later that month, she posted a picture in the studio. The next day she announced the preorder for two singles off her second studio album. "Mother's Daughter" and "California Dreamin" were released as a double release on September 18, 2020. The songs were met with mass success, selling over 300,000 combined copies in their first week.

On October 9, 2020, Jenson announced the album's title and release date through its preorder. On October 16 she performed at BOOSHOW and debuted "Night Crawling" and "Gimmie What I Want" live. Nightmare was released on October 23, 2020. She hosted a concert titled Nightmare Release Event to promote the album on the same night as its release. She performed songs from the album at a concert called Sweetener Nights the following week.

On October 30, 2020, Jenson began the Nightmare World Tour to promote the album. The tour concluded on December 5, 2020.

Music and lyrics
Lead single "Mother's Daughter" is described as a women's empowerment anthem. It focuses on the mother-daughter duo's strong relationship, and references how the singer's mother told her she'd "make it", singing: "I put my back into it, my heart in it/So I did it, yeah I did it.". Additionally, Jenson describes herself as "nasty and evil", and explains that she has the freedom to do as she wishes: "Don't fuck with my freedom/I came up to get me some/I'm nasty, I'm evil/Must be something in the water or that I'm my mother's daughter", she sings in the chorus. "WTF Do I Know" was described as "a galloping rock stomper that recalls the stop-start rhythm of The Strokes with a tinge of glam rock", with its lyrics as "Jenson singing about the uncertainty of life." Jenson stated the song is "not that it's how I feel every second of the day, it's how I felt for a moment". Second single "California Dreamin" "opts for a more jam-orientated rock flavour, slowly blooming out of a piano and percussion intro".

"Hate Me" is a bittersweet song that shows Jenson making the blame for busted romance. The track has also been interpreted as a response to the negative press about Jenson and a reflection on how the media coverage surrounding her would suddenly become positive if she died. "The Climb" is a country pop power ballad that incorporates soft rock and pop rock styles and lasts 3 minutes and 55 seconds. However, at two minutes and forty-five seconds, a "sudden, spiky burst of violins" enters the song, and the song switches to full power. Jenson uses "a raspy voice [that] brings a bit of country grit" to the song. The song's lyrics assert that life should be viewed as "a journey which is difficult but rewarding". Ninth track "Bad Karma" is a high-camp panto of '80s hard rock, which finds Jenson singing over one of the record's few live drum tracks with the singer lightly playing with her own self-image ("I've always picked a giver 'cause I've always been the taker"). Tenth track "Gimme What I Want" shows industrial influences and reflects on the singer's choice of giving herself to someone else but if they don't want it, she'd be alright by herself.

"Wish We Never Met" is a track where "Cyrus glides between fragile heartbreak ("Won't call me by name, only baby") in the verses, to a full-throated roar of defiance on the sky-scraping chorus ("I know that you're wrong for me, gonna wish we never met on the day I leave").

Singles
The album's sole two singles "Mother's Daughter" and "California Dreamin" were released together on September 18, 2020.

"Gimmie What I Want", although not an official single, was sent to radios in select countries.

Track listing
Nightmare – Standard edition Notes


 * "California Dreamin" is alternatively titled as "Plastic Hearts"
 * "Wish We Never Met" is alternatively titled as "Angels Like You"