Kim Petras has offered a candid look into her personal history and the inspiration behind her latest track, “Brutalist,” featured on her new album Detour. In a recent conversation, the artist reflected on the challenges of navigating her gender transition in the public eye during her youth in Germany.

“I talked about my transition in the German media when I was 12,” Petras shared. “I kind of regret it because privacy was really blurred, but I was really unashamed because I was a kid and I was like, ‘This is the way it is.'” This early exposure, which saw her documented as one of the youngest individuals to undergo gender treatment, remains a defining, albeit complex, chapter of her life.

The song “Brutalist” serves as a poignant metaphor for these experiences. Petras draws a parallel between her medical journey and a brutalist post office she once admired with her father. “My dad’s an architect, he used to show me it when he would drive me to the psychiatry,” she explained. “We came back to the city every few months for assessments. One day, they knocked it down and built a modern apartment building. We were like, ‘Ugh, they ruined the city.'”

This sense of loss and the subjective nature of what is considered “ruined” informs the track’s lyrics. Petras addresses the criticism she has faced, noting, “I have people saying I ruined my body and I ruined my life. They don’t know me at all. It saved my life, and then there’s people who are like, ‘This saved your life, but you ruined everything.'”

Despite the external noise, Petras remains steadfast in her journey. She views her public presence as a vital message for trans youth. “In this political climate, I’m happy I can stand for the idea that trans kids can transition and then be a grown up and happy and make those choices. I made the right choices that I’m proud of to this day,” she affirmed.

Detour is available now, marking a bold step forward for the artist as she continues to blend personal narrative with her evolving sound.