Lindsey Stirling, courtesy.

Fans of Lindsey Stirling get to see different versions of the violinist and dancer in the video for “Eye of the Untold Her,” a single from her new album, Duality. There’s the young Stirling mocked by judges of “America’s Got Talent” in 2010 and at various creative peaks throughout her successful career since.

Reenacting the roles she once played, down to the hairstyles and costumes, Stirling takes the harsh feedback of judges (that’s the intro in the video) and battles her way to the top.

“When I wrote it, I wanted it to feel like the hero’s journey,” Stirling said in a video call from her home in L.A., her dog Luna at her side. “It was always supposed to be about coming from this place of fear, unsurety, like going through this journey to realize what you can become. … [To] show a mini version of what my hero’s journey would look like.”

Creatively, the concept was a sort of time-traveling experiment, not only reaching back in time to give her younger version of herself a hug, but about realizing that somewhere in the future is an older, more experienced version of you doing the same thing for you in your current struggles.

“That perspective suddenly opens you up to the idea that we’re all still in the middle of our own hero’s journey every time we go through something hard, and you can look back and find strength from your past self that went through hard things,” she said. “You can also remember there’s a future you cheering you on.”

Stirling developed the idea for her first album since 2019’s Artemis after first struggling to categorize the songs she was writing; trying to force herself to push the envelope and write some certain way, be it leaning toward rock or even meditation songs. The more she pushed, the more frustrated she got. Finally, she gave up to trying to force the cohesion and went back to writing what came to her naturally, ending up with what sounded like two different records. Half had a whimsical, cinematic feel, while the other was more contemporary and pop-driven.

Rather than try to bridge the two, she pushed them further in both directions, and that’s where the album’s thematic elements came into play.

“I felt like it kind of represented two sides of myself as an artist,” she said. “A lot of these songs were written, inspired by duality—like concepts of abundance versus lack or magic versus practicality. I feel like we’re all very conflicted inside, anyway, of these opposing sides of ourselves, of strength and self-belief and then tons of doubt. We have both sides, and it’s up to us to determine what side you want to highlight.”

So the songs, some of which are instrumentals and others with guest vocalists like Rachel Platten, Royal and the Serpent and Walk Off the Earth, are about both the opposing forces as well as the bridges between them. “Eye Of The Untold Her” is about following intuition instead of fear or falling back to the safety net of practicality. Lindsey Stirling referred to it as magic versus practicality, the latter being when we defer to what feels safe and true even when our hearts say otherwise.

Other opposing forces on the album include abundance versus lack and surrendering versus hard work. Each song represents one side or point of view.

“Sometimes, I hold life with this really tight grip, where ‘I know what’s best. I have to make this happen,’” she said. “But sometimes life is pulling against you and being like, ‘Let it go. Maybe there’s a better way. Maybe there’s a better plan.’ I’ve seen that happen over and over and over again in my life, but at the same time, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work for anything.

“Somewhere in the middle is that beautiful space of working hard and believing that you can have something, but also trusting that it will come to you when it’s ready,” Stirling added.

There’s also fear versus strength and bravery, with the explanation that the bravest among us can be afraid and intimidated of doing something, and that’s what makes an action brave.

When she first described Duality’s concept to others, many got confused, presuming that it was a fight between right and wrong or good and evil. That’s not the case at all, she explained.

“All of these are parts of us. There’s parts of us that we want to forgive. There’s parts of us that we accept. There’s parts of us we want to strengthen. There’s parts of us we want to really focus on and highlight,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that a part of you is bad or these forces are bad; they’re just different, and it’s about balance.”

Two more counterparts are “Evil Twin” and “The Scarlet Queen.” The former focuses on self-love and encouragement and the latter on self-doubt and insecurity.

Lindsey Stirling filmed the video “Evil Twin” in front of the pyramids in Egypt, while on a trip where she’d been hired to perform at the wedding of a billionaire who’d rented out the entire site. With the stunningly beautiful backdrop free of tourists, she obtained filming permits from the government—which she said wasn’t easy—and created a visual representation of two more opposing forces: inner conflict versus self-discovery.

The Royal and the Serpent collaboration, meanwhile, happened after Stirling and her team went on a quest to find “a really vibe-y voice” for single “Inner Gold.” She hadn’t met the alt-rock artist up to that point but has become a big fan since, recently catching her with Avril Lavigne at the Kia Forum in L.A.

“She’s such a great person, and she’s a very generous collaborator,” Stirling said. “She was so down to be a part of all the different things [like choreography in the video], and really lean into the experience.”

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Stirling’s career is intrinsically linked with “America’s Got Talent,” and her ouster from the show has been a motiving force for her since. Talking about it used to be painful and embarrassing for her, but she’s completely come to terms with it and moved on now. With Duality, she addresses overcoming that experience. Having performed on the show as a guest numerous times, she said her experience is water under the bridge.

Since the pandemic, she’s been training as an aerialist, and at her shows has worked in both a hoop and trapeze routine; at some points, she’ll be playing violin while dangling in the air. Fans can expect that added spectacle at her shows this summer, but if “AGT” called and invited her to demonstrate her newfound skills on national television, “I’m game.”

“The beauty of any pain is eventually … you get to a point where your relationship changes with it,” she said. “I love that I can … remember that any time I’m feeling something really painful … I can remind myself that I will be OK soon, or eventually.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.