Hilary Duff is getting candid about a fizzled-out flame. In her newly released breakup song, “Roommates,” which she dropped on Thursday, Duff laments the fiery beginnings of a relationship that’s lost its spark. What was once a passionate romance has devolved into an awkward living situation — with Duff and her partner acting more like roommates than lovers.
Duff’s yearning culminates on the synth-pop track’s chorus, where she addresses her partner directly. She reminisces about getting “butterflies from holding your hand” and orchestrating late-night rendezvous that “wake up your roommates.” She wants the highlights of the relationship — the version of her partner that still wants to be with her.
“Roommates is a song about when life is life-ing, babe,” Duff wrote on Instagram. “It’s that ache for a wilder, freer time — before the days were swallowed by carpools, budget talks, grocery runs and letting old or new insecurities slip in. It’s the restless hum of wanting to find your way back — to your rhythm, to your person, to yourself.”
The music video depicts the growing distance that Duff sings about: The rain is literally pouring down in their home as she tries desperately to get her lover’s attention. He’s checked out, though. Eventually, the house falls apart and the rain subsides — and Duff is ready to embark on a new beginning. The video, as fans have noted, seems like a callback to her similarly cathartic “Come Clean” music video from 2003.
Duff, who was recently embroiled in celebrity mom group drama, first teased the song on Jan. 8. In a reel posted to Instagram, Duff is seen lip-syncing to the track while frolicking in a sun-drenched field. She shared two more teasers from the “Roommates” video shoot in the days that followed.
Fans will likely be able to hear Duff perform the newly released track live starting Monday, when she kicks off her “Small Rooms, Big Nerves” tour in London. The upcoming tour marks her first time on the stage in nearly two decades.
Duff’s “Small Rooms, Big Nerves” tour consists of four dates starting in London at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Jan. 19 and ending at the Wiltern in Los Angeles on Jan. 29. Between those dates, she’ll perform at History in Toronto on Jan. 24 and then the Brooklyn Paramount in New York City on Jan. 27.
A couple of weeks after that, she’ll head to Sin City, where she’ll play three shows at Voltaire at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Feb. 13, 14 and 15 as part of a mini residency.
While the Raise Your Voice star has been mum about details surrounding the tour, fans are anticipating a setlist that combines nostalgic heavy hitters with brand-new tracks from her soon-to-be-released album, Luck … or something, out Feb. 20.
Duff announced her new album following the release of her first single and accompanying music video in almost 10 years. With “Mature,” a scathing pop-rock track with groovy guitar licks, the Younger star criticizes a charismatic ex-lover with a “Scorpio touch” for preying on a younger, more impressionable woman.
“‘Mature’ speaks to my mature self calling my not so mature self on the phone many years ago, and she’s letting her know we landed softly,” Duff wrote in an Instagram caption celebrating the track’s debut. “This was a brief time with a lover that left me with so many questions.”
The 38-year-old mom of four, who’s married to music producer Matthew Koma, was catapulted into teen stardom in 2001, when she began starring in the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire at 13. The comedy series, which follows the titular teen as she navigates the complexities of coming of age, culminated in the 2003 millennial fan-favorite film, The Lizzie McGuire Movie.
Hilary Duff during a “Metamorphosis” album signing in 2003. (Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)
(Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images)
In addition to starring in films like A Cinderella Story and Raise Your Voice, Duff launched a solo music career and found notable success with the albums Metamorphosis and Hilary Duff, which were released in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Duff’s 2007 album, Dignity, which delves into the dark side of fame and her age-gap relationship with rocker Joel Madden, marked a noticeable shift in tone and subject matter for the former teen idol.
But it’s Duff’s latest single, “Roommates,” that solidifies her musical departure from her Disney star beginnings. It’s less that Duff’s lyrics are cheekier and more that she finally appears to be in control of her own artistry. She isn’t a kid anymore — and she’s got a backlog of real-life experiences she’s ready to share.
“I have this crazy, like, connection with fans that I’ve known since I was 9 to 10 years old, and I just want to connect with them again now,” she said during an episode of Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast last November. “And I think that we have gone through a lot of the same things, whether that’s complicated relationships, anxiety, raising kids, divorces, trying to find yourself in adulthood, family drama. I mean, lots of topics that, you know, just felt like finally I felt safe enough and comfortable in my own family to step outside and open that part of myself up again.”