For Charlotte Sands, authenticity has always been the way forward.

Raised on the heart-on-sleeve anthems of early 2000s pop-punk and the confessional storytelling of folk singer-songwriters, the Massachusetts-born alt. pop musician has forged a fully independent career fuelled by fearless vulnerability.

Having shared the stage with everyone from My Chemical Romance to 5 Seconds Of Summer, her debut album ‘can we start over?’ grappled with love, loss, and self-empowerment in the rawest of ways. Written within a whirlwind two-week period and capturing the adrenaline and confusion that come with figuring life out, its ten tracks served as a bold introduction to an artist unwilling to compromise.

On album two, Charlotte is slowing things down. Taking the time to figure out what works for her, what doesn’t, and who she truly wants to be, ‘Satellite’ is a collection of songs rooted in identity, self-worth, and the strange, beautiful chaos of being alive. Embracing the darkest and most joyous moments in life with the same open-armed encouragement, its ten tracks cover the full spectrum of the human experience – messy, flawed, but wonderfully unique.

A reminder that none of us are alone in this journey, ‘Satellite’ is bigger, sharper, and more authentically Charlotte Sands than ever. Ahead of the album’s arrival on March 6, we caught up with Charlotte to talk about how these songs took shape, the thrill of her live show, and everything that has led to her most confident era yet.

Rock Sound: First off, let’s talk about how this album came to be. After the whirlwind of working on ‘can we start over?’, how did this one take shape?

Charlotte: In 2024, I took time off from touring for the first time in around five years. Normally, I’m on the road for about eight months of the year, and that is how I’ve always loved it. I truly enjoy touring more than anything else in the world, but I wanted to have more time to write without the pressure of making a full project. We wrote the last album in two weeks, but I didn’t know if I could repeat that type of immediate magic. I wanted to give myself the time and space to create organically and to work with people that I love working with.

That’s how this album came together, in these sporadic moments of creativity between resting. I would take myself out of the creative places for a while, then come back to it. It was definitely a longer process. After a year of writing, I looked back and realised that I had all this music that I really loved and that lived in a world together sonically. I ended up with an album that I’m very proud of. It’s such a great reflection of where I’m at as an artist and a creative. It’s also such a clear look into what artists I listen to and exactly how I feel today.

RS: There’s a lot of reflection in these songs – reckoning with identity, self-perception, and the bigger questions about meaning. What changed between ‘can we start over?’ and now that changed the way you thought about your writing?

Charlotte: I think a huge reason was that I did my first headline world tour with that album. That tour showed me a lot about what type of music I love to perform, what moments I love on stage, and what moments the crowd loves. It reminded me what I get really excited about when performing, and where I feel comfortable vocally.

I made this album based on the live show and the live experience. I wanted to know exactly how the songs would be felt and perceived live, instead of them only existing in the room that I was creating in. I also always write by imagining it in a huge venue, because I want to know that the song will be able to stand on its own legs. That taught me a lot, and it made me very excited to branch out into different sonic realms.

You can tell what I was listening to while writing the different songs. There are songs like ‘HUSH’ that are very pop-leaning, and you can almost hear the influence of ‘brat’ by Charli XCX in there. I’ve always been obsessed with the idea of people having an amazing experience at a club with their friends, and I want to bring that type of energy to a rock show. I want my shows to be places where girls in the pit can have this release of pure energy and joy. I was envious of the energy that other people had created in their music, and I was thinking about how I could work these feelings that I love into this genre that I also love. This album was an exciting experiment into the process of blending those things together.

RS: That plays into the confidence of this record and how self-assured it feels. When we listen to a song like ‘one eye open’, there’s so much power in that. It’s essentially about putting yourself first, and choosing your own peace over other people’s chaos…

Charlotte: That is how I felt making this music. I was confident that as long as I made things that I really love, things that I’d like to listen to, that’s all that mattered. I would love for other people to enjoy it, but I’ve been doing this long enough to know what actually brings me joy and where to set my focus.

A lot of those songs came from reflections on my career. There have been so many lanes I could have taken that would have probably been a lot easier. There are deals I could have signed and tours I could have taken… But they didn’t really align with who I am, my character, and the things that I believe in. The path could have been simpler, but I would have lost little parts of myself along the way. Whilst many of these songs are written about personal relationships, a lot of them are also about me being able to walk away from negativity in every part of my life. As you get older, you build up this armour, and you learn how to walk through your life with confidence. 

“Now, I’m really proud of the life and the career that I’ve created, and of being able to make music that reflects where I’m at. I’m so excited to be able to make things that feel really honest and completely me, but I’m also excited to make things that just feel fun. I think we can all benefit from music that helps you to disconnect from reality for a second.

RS: That duality feels so important on this record – the dark and gutting moments sitting neatly alongside the songs that dial up the fun. Is it important for you to find a conscious balance between the heavy emotional side of yourself with the side that’s able to let loose?

CHARLOTTE: Absolutely. I feel like I’ve always had an identity crisis in the rock genre. I always wanted to be dark, moody, and edgy, but that’s not my personality. If anyone has met me, they would know that I’m not this quiet, brooding person. Now, though, I have started trying to find ways to represent all the different sides of me. There’s the more energetic, careless, free version of myself on songs like ‘HUSH’. Then, there’s the influences from people like Michelle Branch, Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette coming through on these 90s acoustic-leaning songs. That is my entire childhood and the reason why I make music. Then I have the heavier stuff, which is the music that made me want to start playing shows.

Instead of trying to fit everything into this box of what I think people want from me, I thought about how I could honestly represent all these different sides of me in one project. I care more about somebody finding one song that they connect to on this album, rather than having to love the entire thing. We’re all so different, and often that’s not how art works. I do feel like there’s something for everybody here, though.

RS: To make an album that encompasses all of those sides of yourself, the people you bring into your circle also have to really understand the goal. How do you decide who to invite into that process?

CHARLOTTE: The producers who worked on this album are Keith Sorrells and Oscar Linnander, and I think that they’re the most talented people in the entire world. They are such incredible collaborators, and they pushed me to take risks that I normally wouldn’t take. There were songs where I, as a joke, would make these weird noises, and they would be like, ‘Oh, you have to do that.’ I’d be laughing like, ‘This is never going to make the cut.’ And then afterwards I’m like, ‘Whoa, this sounds so cool.’ 

Trusting people that can push you even when you don’t initially get the vision is so important. I try to surround myself with people who are just as excited about what we’re making as I am, but also people who want to try different things. I like it when we’re all excited about the risks we’re taking. It’s about people being able to see things that you don’t see.

For example, I originally wrote ‘HUSH’ thinking that I was going to pitch it to a pop artist. I was like, ‘This could never be mine. It makes no sense.’ Keith ended up adding live drums and reproducing it. He was like, ‘Just trust me. When I add these sounds, you’re gonna love it.’ He sent it to me, and I knew it had to be a single.

Another incredible collaborator that’s on a lot of these songs is Jutes, who’s an incredible artist. He is one of those people that never shies away from an idea or concept. He wants to see everything through and do it with 100% of ourselves. Those are the types of people I love working with, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than in a studio making songs with my friends.

RS: As an independent artist, obviously, you have to think about the music, but there’s so much that exists around it. Merch, videos, visuals, make-up, outfits… When did you start pinning down how the ‘Satellite’ era was going to look and feel?

Charlotte: Because of all the stuff I was doing on the business side for this album, I felt creatively deflated when I was having to make decisions around the title, aesthetic, and artwork. I couldn’t come up with any ideas because my head was so in the middle of strategies, marketing and content.

I went through a folder of about 1,000 images of different colours for vinyl pressings, and I tasked myself with finding the colour of the album. All of the other things weren’t coming to me naturally in the way that they did for my debut, which I think is normal for a second album. In a lot of ways, it feels more serious. It’s not just this exciting risk; you have to plan it out. You lose a little bit of the magic.

I found this dark green olive colour, which is my favourite colour in the whole world. Immediately, everything clicked. I sat down at my computer, and I made a list of exactly what I wanted for the cover art. I knew what the outfits would look like, and I knew what I wanted it to be perceived as. Something that I’ve had to learn over time is that it’s okay to find alternative ways to do things. If you feel stuck, you can find another bridge to get to where you need to be. You can find inspiration from things that normally you wouldn’t look to.

RS: So many of us in this scene grew up feeling like outsiders, and music can be a place where you find yourself – whether that’s as a listener or as an artist. When you picture someone listening to ‘Satellite’ alone in their bedroom, or on a long drive… What do you hope the record gives them?

CHARLOTTE: I feel like this album reflects the human experience in a lot of ways. It contains so many different emotions, and it spans over almost every pocket of feelings I’ve had in the last year and a half. I want people to know that all of those things separately are valid, and that all of those things together are valid too. 

We are so lucky to get to feel so much and to experience so much as humans. I try to remind myself – even on my worst days – that it’s a privilege to get to feel so deeply. It’s a privilege to have such close relationships that they can cause me pain. It’s such a wonderful, terrifying, beautiful experience that we’re all in together, and we’re all just trying to figure it out.

There’s a connection between all of us, and I love being reminded of that at the shows. There’s such a unique feeling you get when people are in a room together, and I hope you can feel a bit of that whilst listening to these songs. It’s a reminder that there are so many people that feel the same way as you. There are so many people having their worst day, others having their best day, and everything in between. My priority is always for people to feel connected to a community and to feel connected to other humans.