Demi Lovato Talks ‘Confident,’ Going Nude & Saying Goodbye To Her ‘Old Ways’

Demi Lovato wants fans to get to know the real her.

The pop star drops her next album, “Confident,” on Oct. 16, and told Access Hollywood on Tuesday that listeners can look forward to her new music’s “authenticity.”

“Honesty, empowering messages and confidence,” she said of the album’s main themes.

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The 23-year-old also shows off her physical prowess in the video for the title track, duking it out with “Fast & Furious” franchise star Michelle Rodriguez.

“It was a lot of fun. She’s pretty much the most badass actress there is right now, and being able to fight her was so cool,” Demi said. “And empowering!”

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The women may throw down in the stunt-heavy clip, but they don’t stay enemies for long – a narrative choice that Demi said keeps in line with her album’s message.

“It wasn’t just another movie or video about girls fighting each other,” Demi said. “At the end of the video, we come together.”

Michelle made for a supportive sparring partner, Demi added. Despite the “Avatar” actress being known for her tough-gal roles, Demi said her co-star found the video’s pro-feminist storyline a refreshing change of pace.

“[Michelle] was talking to me, she’s like, ‘You know, I’ve been waiting for this, for an opportunity where girls can come together and take on the bad guys – rather than always pitting [them] against each other,'” she said.

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The former Disney star has also gone solo to showcase her “Confident” new persona, stripping down for an impromptu Vanity Fair photo spread published on Oct. 2.

“The most challenging part of that photo shoot for me was going in the buff with no Photoshop,” she chuckled.

Despite having opportunity to airbrush the images, Demi told Access that she was determined to keep things au naturel.

“There were times where I was looking at the pictures with the photographer and he would say, ‘Oh, we could fix that,’ and I was like, ‘No, we can’t. We cannot use Photoshop in this shoot,'” she said.

The nudity was far more intimidating than her barefaced look, Demi added. The “Cool for the Summer” singer said she rarely wears much makeup in her day-to-day life, but did experience initial discomfort when disrobing.

“Of course it’s awkward,” she said. “But when I start to think about the message, when I would start to think about how many people this would inspire, I got more comfortable doing it.”

While “Confident” introduces a new phase of Demi’s life and career, she said parts of the album also reflect saying goodbye to the past.

“I’m referring to all my previous behaviors,” Demi said of the personal track “Old Ways.” “Self-medicating, or coping with whatever it was I was dealing with at the time, and ‘Old Ways’ is kind of an ode to not doing that again.”

“Confident” drops on Friday, Oct. 16. 

— Erin Biglow