Genevieve Hannelius is officially stepping into a new creative chapter. The singer-songwriter and actress released her debut EP, Girlhood, today, a six-song project that distills the contradictions, nostalgia, and emotional whiplash of growing up into something soft-edged and sharply felt. Alongside the EP, Hannelius shared a music video for “The Woods,” filmed in her hometown of Maine, where winter landscapes mirror the song’s quiet vulnerability.
Written entirely by Hannelius, Girlhood unfolds like a late-night conversation with a close friend — intimate, conflicted, and self-aware. Across tracks like the dreamy debut single “Reckless,” the pop-rock catharsis of “James,” and the stripped-down title track, she explores the liminal space of her twenties: feeling caught between childhood comfort and adult expectation. The EP draws from influences ranging from early-2000s pop staples to folk and country textures, resulting in a sound that feels both nostalgic and newly personal.
After spending much of her childhood in the public eye, Hannelius took time away from acting to attend college and live more privately — experiences that now anchor her songwriting. That patience pays off on Girlhood, which plays less like a reinvention than a quiet arrival. It’s a debut rooted in lived experience, emotional honesty, and the freedom to be unresolved. Listen to the Girlhood EP here and read along with the truncated interview with G below. The full interview is in Hit Parader #3, now available.
HP: For Girlhood, the title feels very personal. Can you tell us what made the title feel like it represented the EP well?
GH: I mean, I think it was a couple of different things. First of all, I am in my mid to late 20s, and I feel like this time period has just been such a huge transition. Just sort of emotionally, and in life in general. And I felt like that was a really relatable concept. I noticed that that’s how my friends were feeling, almost going through like this Saturn Return, and just having a lot of different conflicting emotions come up, you know, realizing that you’re really an adult now, post-college, and also like having this nostalgia for your childhood. I also felt like I played an interesting role in a lot of other people’s childhoods. Like, that’s the biggest thing that people say when they come up to me, is, like, “You’re my childhood! I grew up watching you.” So I think that, like, the girlhood theme showed up in a lot of different ways as I was working on this.
HP: I don’t want to age myself, but I’m one of those kids. I mean, I watched Dog With a Blog before I went to school on the Disney Channel.
GH: Well, it’s so funny, because I really feel like the fans watching Disney Channel specifically have a different connection with the actors than I feel like actors that you watch when you’re older in movies, because you do really feel this special, nostalgic connection to them. And I think that’s really cool, because I felt the same way growing up. Even though I was working, I grew up watching, you know, Hannah Montana, or Lizzie McGuire, and I had those same feelings. So I get it.
HP: I want to talk about your kind of growing-up experience. I know that you, as an actor yourself, have had a pretty unique life experience. How do you think that life experience has given you a unique perspective on growing up and girlhood?
GH: Well, I definitely spent a lot of my childhood in a, you know, unconventional way, because I was working. So I think, in a lot of ways, that sort of forced me to grow up quicker, and then in other ways, I feel like it actually stunted me socially. I was spending a lot of time with adults on sets, so when I actually ended up, you know, like going to college, I was sort of like, “This is what the kids are doing?” I had to, like, catch up. So, yeah, I think that’s a way that it was unique. But I also really just feel like, no matter what your life circumstances are, everyone goes through those pivotal growing-up moments, and that’s something that we can all kind of relate to.
HP: Absolutely. So, out of all the characters you’ve played, who do you think would most likely relate to Girlhood and be singing along to the songs on it?
GH: [Laughs] That’s a great question. You know, I probably would have to say Avery from Dog With a Blog, because so much of the show, and just the episodes, you know, storyline-wise, were about her growing up. Like, I always have this distinct memory of one of the episodes. She hated being short, and so she was doing everything she could to, like, feel taller. She made this, like, massive haircut, and she was wearing huge heels to school. And obviously, that’s an exaggerated situation, but it is so relatable. I just feel like that concept of feeling insecure about something that, like, you can’t change about yourself, is just such a vulnerable, relatable feeling. So I think she would be singing along, and she would really, she’d really get it. She’d be like, “Yeah, same. I went through that.”
HP: I really like the end of the EP, with “The Woods.” It kind of felt like it wrapped a really nice bow on the EP. What was the thought process when ordering the songs and how each song played in?
GH: Yeah, we did think about that a lot. We had some of these more pop kind of songs, and then we had a couple, like “Girlhood” and “The Woods” that are a little bit more stripped down and slower ballads. So I just wanted there to be sort of a balance when you were listening through. So it was like, a more upbeat pop one here, something a little more laid back, something brighter – I almost felt like it’s the roller coaster of girlhood emotions that you go through. You know, one day you’re screaming at the top of your lungs, you’re so in love, and then the next day he ghosted you, and you couldn’t be more depressed. And it’s just like, up and down, or at least that’s how I feel my emotions have been in my 20s, so I wanted it to sort of have that feeling.
HP: What was one influence for this album that you think would surprise your fans?
GH: Oh, well, I think we actually were listening to a lot of folksy stuff, like Noah Kahan was really having a huge moment at the times we were listening. I love Casey Musgraves, and actually, like this would probably surprise people. I’m a huge country music fan. Dolly Parton is like one of my all time idols, and I listen to a lot of country music, so surprisingly that folksy sort of country sound we were listening to a lot, even though these songs evolved into something sort of different.
HP: Any last message you want to give the girls who are growing up?
GH: Oh! To the girls, I would just say, hang in there. We’re all in this together. We’re not alone. I think connection is our most powerful tool that we have through all the ups and downs of growing up and life. So I mean, really just my hope with making the EP was that it would connect with somebody, and, you know, someone could say, “Oh, my God, I feel that way too.” So I hope it resonates with people in that way. But my biggest takeaway, I think, is not being afraid to, like, make mistakes and take them as, you know, learning experiences and just keep trying. Don’t be afraid to be seen trying.
Full interview is available in Hit Parader #3.
