Hilary Duff on New Album 'Breathe In. Breathe Out.' & Working w/ Ed Sheeran

We've been breathing in and breathing out over the last few weeks, because we just cannot get enough of Hilary Duff's new album! Hilary released Breathe In. Breathe Out. on June 12th — her first album since 2007's Dignity — and we've been feeling the "sparks" ever since. Literally.

A year and a half doesn't just include working on Breathe In. Breathe Out., Hilary was also filming her new show Younger and will be filming season 2 very soon. Duff tells iHeartRadio of the upcoming season of the series, "I love being in New York in the Fall, it's my favorite time of year and the show's funny. I feel really lucky to be on a show that is so relatable and the writing is so good. Darren Star really knows how to write for women and the fashion is fun, and we do such crazy things. We're always sitting there at the table read like, 'We have to do what this week? I have to say what?' I'm kind of like apologizing to my dad at all times, like, 'Don't watch this episode actually.'"

While you watch Hilary on her TV show, and patiently await its second season, you can listen to Breathe In. Breathe Out. on repeat in the mean time. Hilary recently stopped by iHeartRadio HQ in New York City where she opened up to us about her new music — we wanted to know everything! Read on for everything you need to know about Hilary Duff's new album Breathe In. Breathe Out. below.

1. Hilary Duff on finally having her new album released:

"It's been a while. I feel relieved, because I worked on the record for over a year and a half, and it's taken a lot of different twists and turns. It feels amazing to have it completed and at a place that I feel like I love it. I'm really comfortable with it, and to finally share it with my fans that have been waiting for a really long time."

2. She had a lot of inspiration for writing new songs for Breathe In. Breathe Out.

"I had taken such a long break and done so much and felt like a human again outside of my crazy whirl wind life from eight years ago. And I felt ready, I feel like I knew myself differently, and I've grown up and had a lot of different experiences and things to write about. It felt like a good time. I missed it, you know, I finally missed it. I think during that time I wasn't like, 'Oh, I miss being on stage' or 'I really want to make a record.' I just didn't have that feeling, and all of the sudden I had it again, and so it was time."

3. She may have released two singles last year that are not Breathe In. Breathe Out. ("Chasing The Sun" & "All About You"), but she took her time to make sure her new album sounded just right."

"I really wasn't putting any pressure on myself to have a release date and I knew it was going to be ready when it was ready. Halfway through making the record I finally got a record label, so I was really doing a lot of it on my own and not too stressed about a deadline or anything. I wanted it to feel right, and I did release songs last year, and then I got my TV show, so it was like a few little ... I'd say, happy bumps in the road happened. And I think it was a good thing. I think it was just a little too premature, my record wasn't ready yet and it sounds different than what those songs sound like, and I'm much more happy with that now. I'm really grateful that I decided to take the show, and take a breather from the record, and then revisit it and come back and have new motivation of what I wanted it to be."

4. "Picture This" is based on a personal experience.

"I mean, all of them are pieces of me and the songs that I wrote on there especially are something I was feeling one day or some experience that I had. 'Picture This' is an experience I had and it was short-lived but made me feel alive."

5. "Brave Heart" is possibly the most personal song on the album, and is about her relationship.

"'Brave Heart' was one that was a really tough thing to [write] ... was obviously about my relationship, and kind of taking a big step in a direction that was unknown and scary, and that's really personal."

6. There are other songs on the album that Hilary wanted to include because she related to them on some level.

"There's other songs 'One in a Million' or 'Sparks' that I didn't write that I love and I just heard and I'm like, 'I want that, I relate to that. I feel like that all the time.' And those touched me too but in different way than stuff I wrote. It's really personal and I think there's no other way to do it, because I'm not just like some super cool DJ or something that can put music out. I'm an artist that people feel like they know and so sharing with them has to come from a personal place."

7. She was super nervous about working with Ed Sheeran on "Tattoo" & he actually was at the studio while Hilary was recording the song. 

"I was scared. I'm such a big fan of his and that was really early on in the process of making the record. I heard that song and was telling my A&R girl, 'Don't play that for anyone, I want that, that's my song. Like, please, I'll beg for it. I don't care.' And he heard that I wanted to do it and was down, and he was excited. He came [to the studio] when I was recording it, and it was great."

8. Also, she's definitely a Sheerio.

"I think I put pressure on myself to make sure that I was doing a good job for him, and you know, it's his words and his message and I'm so lucky to have had that experience because I'm such a big fan. He's such a great, I mean artist, but [also] songwriter. He really can just write a mean song. It's great."

9. The idea for her "Sparks" music video, and going on Tinder came out of a night with her girlfriends.

"The whole idea [for the video] started when my girlfriends and I were like laughing about her Tinder one day and I was like, 'I'm going to get on Tinder.' She's like, 'No way, you can't get on Tinder.' And I was like, 'I can.' And then the whole idea happened with creating a video and just doing something really normal and that normal people do, that I necessarily wouldn't have the opportunity to do, or maybe wouldn't do."

10. And while she may not be a Tinder expert, but she did learn a few things from the app. Here are a few things to do/not to do on Tinder, according to Hilary:

"I wouldn't say that I'm like the master of Tinder by any means. But I would say definitely no shirtless photos. Guys that post shirtless selfies are like, to the left automatically. Trying to come up with something original like, on your quote and funny, that is like instant yes. As long as you look halfway decent, or probably a little bit more than halfway decent. A good quote is like, instant yes."

**BTW, Hilary's profile said "Let's get pizza." So, so smart. How can you say no to that?! Swipe right. 

Photos: Rachel Kaplan