When Degrassi star and pop singer, Cassie Steele, posted a picture from behind the scenes of the shoot for her upcoming music video, “Games,” we got a little concerned. Was that buddy of hers covered in blood? And just what kind of new sound was she delving into for her new EP, Patterns? We chatted with the songstress and found out firsthand.

“It’s not blood, it’s red lipstick,” Steele explained. “But I think it might as well have been. We filmed it with a good friend of mine, Alfredo Flores. It kind of had this horror film theme. But it’s only lipstick. He didn’t eat a live animal or anything.”

That lipstick was the makeup artist’s, but it’s supposed to be Steele’s. While she wouldn’t give away too much, she teased that we should expect something big and a bit aggressive. We love all the songs on Patterns, but we were curious why she chose that one, in particular.

“Honestly, I think because ‘Games’ is just kinda, like, dark,” Steele explained. “It was one of my favorite songs when we first wrote it. They always differ, but it’s just got this, like, really powerful, cool, dark [mood]… but it’s still cool to vibe out to and cool to jam to. So, I just thought something with energy that’s dark and different was kind of what I wanted to represent this new EP as.”

“Games” is truly a killer track. If you haven’t heard the single or the rest of the album yet, you’re missing out. As good as the album is, though, we legitimately couldn’t believe Steele when she shared details on how long it took her to record the album.

“Literally, it took us three weeks to write the album,” Steele shared. “And every single day, we would write a song or two and whatever I was feeling that day I would write into a song. So, it’s all really, like, recent things that I was feeling or still feel.”

This isn’t Steele’s first EP. She’s been releasing music since she was 14. She’s yet to put out a full-length album, though. Juggling her acting career and her musical aspirations isn’t always easy. For Steele, one of the biggest setbacks is recording music, then working on TV or a film and then trying to tour with songs she no longer relates to. While she feels like she’s finally ready for a full-length album, Steele wanted to test the waters first, now that’s she’s evolved into a bit of a new sound.

“I’m definitely going to do a full-length album,” Steele confirmed. “This was so important as an EP, because it was such a new sound from what I’m used to doing. I’ve always had this rock and pop base and it’s still pop, just now, the live show is going to be completely different, just completely uncharted territory for me only because it’s really electronic. It’s very different, so I think it was very important to have an EP just to test it out and see where it went.”

Steele shared that going into the studio this time around felt like she made a baby and that baby was music. But what inspired this new sound? Steele said it goes back to the music she’s always loved and wanting to incorporate more of it into her own vibe.

“I really love drum and bass and I really love a lot of hip-hop beats and a lot of rap beats. And I just really wanted to incorporate that more and everything else just kind of came naturally. And I really love dance, I really do. Depeche Mode is one of my favorite bands, so it kind of inspired a lot. It just came organically.”

It came organically and it sounds awesome. Patterns is available now and “Games” is on its way shortly. Vibe on, sisters.