Spiritbox Vocalist Courtney LaPlante Had ‘Mental Breakdown’ Recording ‘Eternal Blue’

Working on a debut album can put a lot of pressure on an emerging artist, and Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante has admitted that she had a full-blown mental breakdown while recording Eternal Blue.

Speaking to Metal Hammer, the singer confessed that working on the record was "physically and mentally exhausting," especially because she put herself in the emotional state conveyed in each song in order to translate them properly.

"It’s like acting," she said. "Someone has to hear your emotion in their ears, so you have to get into the mentality of whoever the narrator is singing the song. The narrator is usually myself, but at different points in my life."

Fortunately, though, LaPlante was surrounded by a strong support system — producer Dan Braunstein, bassist Bill Crook and her husband, guitarist Michael Stringer — so she felt safe in case "things got too weird.”

“I went to record it, and I had no confidence,” she recalled. "I sounded so bad, and the guys had to pause my recording session. I had a frickin’ mental breakdown. They guys were like, ‘It’s OK Courtney, we can do this again tomorrow’, and I went into a closet in my room and cried and cried. The next day, magic happened. If I hadn’t had that breakdown the night before I wouldn’t have been able to perform the song like I did the next day.”

Spiritbox became one of the most buzz worthy bands over the last year, especially when their song "Constance" had metalheads all over the internet in tears. Eternal Blue came out on Sept. 17 and debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, sharing the company of contemporary artists such as Drake, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish in the Top 15.

LaPlante isn't intimidated by their rapid success, though, challenging whatever forthcoming expectations the metal community will eventually place on the band.

"I’m not scared of them. They just make me even more inspired," she remarked.

Spiritbox will be on tour in the U.S. starting later this month — check out the dates here.