ET caught up with Michaels on the set of her and Lauv's new music video for 'There's No Way,'
After penning smash hits for pop icons like Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson and close friend Selena Gomez, singer-songwriter Julia Michaels is striking out on her own in a big way with her first full-length album, and she couldn't be more excited.
However, the artist admits that putting herself out there like this has a way of doing a number on her nerves -- as she revealed to ET's Katie Krause, who exclusively visited the set of Michael's new music video for her and Lauv's recent collaboration, "There’s No Way."
"I get a bit in my head because my fans are really important to me and I just don't want to let them down," Michaels explains, referring to a tweet she posted weeks ago about being nervous for fans to hear her new music because she wants it to be especially good.
"I [also] don't want to let myself down and I don't want to put out anything that I'm not completely in love with," she adds. "I think that's why it's been taking me a little bit of a longer time."
Michaels' most recent EP, Nervous System, came out in July 2017, and while she's worked on a number of singles over the past year, her debut full-length album has been in the works for some time. According to the 24-year-old singer, the wait has mainly been because of her own idiosyncrasies.
"I'm a bit of a perfectionist and then I self-sabotage a bit too," Michaels explains. "So, like, I'm just kind of a mess in my head all the time."
However, while she's at work on her first LP, Michaels hasn't had time to collaborate with one of her close friends, Gomez, on any of the music the 26-year-old singer has been teasing in recent weeks.
Michaels has co-written some of Gomez' most popular hits, including "Slow Down," "Hands to Myself," "Revival," "Sober," and, most recently, her single, "Bad Liar." But Michaels said that Gomez is at a creative point in her life where she wants to make her own voice and message shine through brighter than ever before.
"She's amazing and I think she wants to do her own thing and have her own words and her own expressions and I think that's amazing," Michaels shares. "I want her to f**king flourish! Because she deserves it. She deserves everything."
For Michaels, Gomez has played such a big role in her life and career that she has earned a very special place in her heart.
"She's everything to me," Michaels marvels. "I wouldn't be doing this without her."
Working on her solo album also means that she won't be penning songs for any of the other pop icons she's written for in the past, like Justin Bieber, for whom she co-wrote the mega-hit single "Sorry."
"It takes a lot of time and effort. I haven't really been doing a lot of things with anybody else," Michaels says. "I want what I'm doing to be right and perfect and me, so I really have to focus on that right now."
However, that doesn't mean she's not collaborating with other artists on any new projects. For "There’s No Way," Michaels worked closely with her 24-year-old collaborator, Lauv, and their chemistry is readily apparent in their new music video, which dropped on Thursday.
Despite their steamy connection on camera, both stars assured ET that they are just buddies, and their onscreen magnetism is just a predictable side effect of working together in close quarters and having to build an emotional bond for the sake of their music.
"It's definitely a friendship that's developed over time," Michaels says. “When you write songs, I mean, it's a very intimate thing… you get to know a lot about a person in a very short amount of time. It almost forces you to have chemistry and then it's up to you and the other person to keep it going."
For more on Michaels' new music video, her friendship with Lauv and her hopes for her upcoming solo album, check out the video below.
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