The most important thing to remember going into Ashley Tisdale’s sophomore album, Guilty Pleasure, is that the High School Musical star is actually a whopping 23 years old. “Hey, it isn’t bad that I look young,” she laughs. “I’ve got good genes, I gotta say.” With an exclusive track now available on iTunes — “Overrated” marks the first of three songs to be released digitally before the July 28th album debut — she’s also hoping she has a good chance at leaving the Disney playpen behind and striking out as a grown-up pop star. “I think this album has a sense of very strong survival in every song, and that’s something I’m attracted to,” says Tisdale. “I’m a strong person. I’m also very sassy and a little bit angsty sometimes. I try to show a different side of me that people haven’t seen. I think people really see me as Sharpay, from High School Musical, which is great — but there is a different side of Ashley, and that’s really coming across on the album. I am growing up. That’s what I feel the album is really about. I’m not young anymore. I’m 23 turning 24, and it’s a reflection of where I am in my life right now.”

Tisdale says she was involved in every aspect of the album’s production, from its guitar-driven, slightly industrial sound (Lady GaGa is an inspiration) to much of the writing process. “I definitely want an album I would listen to,” she says. Her favorite track, “What If,” was a collaboration with American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, who Tisdale calls “a talented person who knows what she’s doing.” “‘What If’ was the last song I recorded, and I just feel like it’s the most personal. It makes me very vulnerable, I think, for everybody to hear it. I don’t want to talk specifics, but the song is about when you’re in a relationship, and you get into arguments, you’re always willing to try and save the relationship. You’re willing to work things out — but the other person is always willing to walk away. So at the end of the day, without all those games, if I needed you, would you be there for me?”

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