Though she mostly writes on her own,Tarver
enjoys the collaborative process songwriting
has to offer. She works with friends and other
songwriters, which she believes will help
her in the long run to become a top-notch
writer. Over the past few years, the singer
wrote more than 50 songs for her album
knowing full and well she wasn’t going to
use them all. So far, the results are better
than she could have anticipated.
“Crazy Stupid Love” was a big hit, but not
necessarily for her. Sure, she co-wrote the
tune with Wayne Wilkins and Heidi Rojas,
but ultimately the tune was a smash for its
performer: British pop star Cheryl Cole. It
ended up at no. 1 on the UK Singles charts
—and as Tarver’s first chart-topping song.
“I was so thrown off when I found out about
it, but in a good way,” she says. “It was the
craziest, most exciting thing, because I
never had a song I wrote cut by anyone else
nevertheless being released going to no. 1. It
feels surreal.”
The deliberate pace of putting together the
album has afforded Tarver the luxury to
focus on expanding her writing style while,
at the same time, experiment with different
sounds that wouldn’t have been possible
when she released her previous EP, A Little
More Free, back in 2011. Even at this early
juncture, Tarver is cognizant of what it takes
to achieve stardom in the music world and
that the long process can be a good thing.
“Songwriting is very hard for me,” she
confesses. “I’m always questioning whether
or not something works or is a cool phrase.
But when I’m done, it’s very rewarding.”