Shristy
on ‘Waiting 4 U’: Turning Heartbreak into Cinematic Pop-Punk Empowerment
After turning heads with her debut EP Summer Solstice, Shristy returns with ‘Waiting 4 U’ — a bold, cinematic pop-punk anthem that captures the messy beauty of heartbreak and self-liberation. Written in the wake of a painful breakup, the track channels both vulnerability and defiance, blending nostalgic 2000s energy with raw emotional honesty. In this exclusive interview, Shristy opens up about the song’s origins, the power of reclaiming your voice, and how ‘Waiting 4 U’ marks the beginning of a fiercer, more defined new era.
‘Waiting 4 U’ feels both intimate and cinematic — what moment or emotion first sparked the idea for the song?
This song really did feel like a cinematic soundtrack to my life. It came to me while I was processing a painful breakup. I’d often find myself singing the pre-chorus and chorus alone — it became an earworm, almost like a mantra I’d use to remind myself why I made the hard decision to walk away. Waiting 4 U became the catalyst that helped me get to the other side, and I hope it can do the same for anyone going through something similar.
The track balances vulnerability and empowerment. How did you approach expressing both of those energies in your songwriting and production?
At that point in my life, I’d been holding back a lot, biting my tongue, keeping myself small. When I finally started writing again, all this loud, unapologetic, punk-feminine energy just poured out of me. It was raw and unexpected, but I knew I had to lean into it. The vulnerability came from honesty, confronting the pain, and the empowerment came from owning it. The sound and lyrics were just a natural reflection of where I was emotionally.
In what ways does this single mark a new chapter in your sound since Summer Solstice?
Summer Solstice was a fun, exploratory EP that gave people a glimpse into who I am as an artist. The Fractured era feels edgier and more defined. Many of the songs, including Waiting 4 U, were born out of painful moments that I’ve turned into something fun and empowering. The 2000s pop-punk sound is a huge comfort zone for me — it’s nostalgic and emotional, so it felt right for this chapter. This release I hope continues to let you into my versatility; pop music to me is a playground of sounds and influences I use to share my stories and lessons.
Can you walk us through your creative process for this track — from the first lyric or melody to the final mix?
Honestly, much of this song wrote itself. I think I was cleaning or working out when the chorus and pre-chorus came to me. At the time I was working on other music and was hyper-focused on that, so for the longest time this song lived in my head, just something I’d sing for myself. Knowing I needed to get this down, I hit up Stuart B (producer on this track) and sent him a voice memo of me singing — no demo, not even a metronome against the voice memo, nothing. If you know anything about my creative process you’d know I like to have 80% of the track done before I decide to bring anyone on, so this was very unusual for me and I was releasing a lot of creative control. We got in the studio, I explained what I was hearing in my head, and Stu well and truly brought it to life exactly how I’d imagined it.
What do you hope listeners take away from ‘Waiting 4 U’ when they first hear it?
Ultimately I hope it hits as a feel-good track that scratches that nostalgic itch for 2000s pop-punk. But beyond that, I hope it empowers anyone who’s in a relationship where their needs aren’t being met. The biggest lesson behind the song is that you can’t keep waiting for someone to change if it’s holding you back or making you lose yourself in the process. Sometimes choosing yourself is the most loving thing you can do.