Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Lauren Duski’s debut single, Costume Party, dropped Wednesday.

And you might say it was worth the wait.

Lauren deals with the pressures of social media, the opinions of others and self-acceptance in “Costume Party,” a song sure to stick with you after a single listen.

The song comes from a young woman who says she’s prone to check her Instagram account first thing in the morning.

From a young woman who says she “can’t even help but compare myself to other artists, other women.”

“I knew that exposing these insecurities was exactly what I wanted to share with the world first,” Lauren says in a video explaining the story behind the song. “Bbecause I knew if it were me and I heard this, it would have really helped knowing I’m not alone.

“Somehow there’s a little bit of healing that comes through music. Saying ‘I’m over this costume party’ is exactly how I feel,” she adds. “We are our best selves when we accept ourselves.”

Even the cover art for the single — that’s it above — ties into the message.

On Facebook, Lauren says she’s gotten feedback on that as well. That she doesn’t look classy enough. That she looks too thin. That she needs to cover up. (She explains that she was wearing a tube shot for the photo shoot.)

You can check out her full-length response there. In part, she writes: “The cover photo for ‘Costume Party’ is bare, stripped, and free of any expensive clothes and jewelry that barely anyone can afford. It’s just me, the girl from the small town, sitting in her most vulnerable stat4 … Reality isn’t perfect and people need to know that that’s ok.”

Here’s “Costume Party.”