"This music is who I am," says 20-year-old Rossum. "In the movies, I've always felt like one piece of the puzzle. But this is all me. It's my baby. I get to write, direct and star. And that's the most fulfilling thing. It's everything I've always wanted to do. This music is so close to me. It's something new… You can't categorize it."

The first single, "Slow Me Down," about trying to "find a respite from all the craziness," is made up of more than 150 different parts and harmonies, every one of them sung by Emmy herself, including, in some cases, the percussion. "Stay" was the first piece she wrote for the record. When she started the recording process, Rossum decided she didn't want to make the album in a "popera" classical style similar to Sarah Brightman, another diva associated with Andrew Lloyd Webber. "I felt I had exhausted that part of myself," she explains after her stints in the Metropolitan Opera and in Phantom. "I've been exposed to a lot of different kinds of music since that period of my life. There were so many other influences I picked up along the way."

While her film career continues to gain momentum, Rossum is looking forward to performing the material from her album in concert, already planning an elaborate stage set with video that can capture her singing with herself. "I don't do things halfway," she says. "I'd like my live show to be its own entity, a full presentation."

Rossum released an iTunes bundle with three songs, a video and a 15-minute documentary revealing a more intimate side of her. "I've never been more excited about anything," she says about the record. "This album is about figuring out who I am. It's the real Emmy Rossum. For the first time, I'm not speaking someone else's lines. I feel the most open and able to express myself in a song. It's scary because it's all me."

If you think you know Emmy Rossum, listening to her music makes clear there's a lot more than meets the eye… and ear.

* * *

Inside Out opened at #14 on iTunes' top album chart.

Rossum’s music career started off with a bang: a three song digital bundle released exclusively to iTunes in late July reached #2 on the digital stores pop chart and #8 on its overall chart the week of release.

"I feel a real emotional connection to these songs," Rossom says. "It's a real expression of my innermost thoughts and feelings, hence the title Inside Out."

The reaction to the video has been through the roof with it having close to 700,000 views on YouTube, where it’s currently the 12th most favorite video on the site. It also debuted at #15 at AOL Top 40 Videos chart.

"Slow Me Down," the first single and included on the iTunes bundle, incorporates more than 150 different vocal parts and harmonies, every one sung by Emmy herself.

"It's about finding a respite from all the craziness," says the performer about the song. "I wanted to create a kind of music that would allow me to use my voice as an instrument. I tried to discover the boundary of the human voice."