Last year, Max Frost had a creative awakening. Since becoming a professional musician and scoringgenre-mashing hits including White Lies and Adderall, the forward-thinking pop maestrofelt he hadnt shown his true colors. I realized I needed to completely change what I was doing and what I was trying to create into something a little bolder, a little bit more honest and less controlled, he says.I needed to take the veiloffand let myself be a little more naked and a little more direct. Hed spent nearly hisentirelife in Austin, Texas, so moving to Los Angeles in 2017was about having a fresh start --reinventing myself as much as a person as an artist. Once he touched downin LA, heimmediately got to work creating what turned out to be someof the most inventive songsof his young career.I finally had the balls to be vulnerable, says Frost, who once in LAteamed up with Michael Fitz Fitzpatrick (Fitz and The Tantrums)and began constructing the songs that would comprise Gold Rush, his major-label full-length debut LP, executive produced by Fitz, with major help fromMick Schultz (Rihanna, Jeremih). Reflectingonthe personal and creative journey hes undergonein the past year, Frost says hes finally freed himself of self-imposed restrictions and become one-hundred percent honest with himself as both a human beingand songwriter. I stopped trying to control how cool my musiccame across and just be myself, he says.I had to let it be open and direct and in-your-face.Now the 26-year-old singer, multi-instrumentalist and dynamic live performer, who in a few short years hasseen his star rise in a major way thanks to tours with everyone from Twenty One Pilots, Panic! At The Disco, Fitz and The Tantrums, and Gary Clark Jr., beingfeatured ona recent DJ Snake singleand havingfour consecutive songs go to Number One on HypeMachine, says hes never been adamant about pushing the limits of what constitutes pop music. I definitely care way less now about trying to beniche, says the quick-witt