Interview: Not enough people are talking about Anna Shoemaker, and it shows.

Anna Shoemaker flaunts barb-gilded songwriting with calculated fluidity. Over stomping, crunchy production, as you’ll find with songs like “Figure It Out,” written back during her Philadelphia days, she commands the conversation. “Call me when you figure it out,” she twists her intentions like a pretzel bite. Production gnawing at her heals, her voice flutters, but it’s not without a pulverizing thwomp! “I think that a lot of that groove came from just sitting on the train [on my way to my friend Dominic Florio’s studio], and letting my thoughts run,” she offers B-Sides & Badlands over email. “It was really stream of consciousness. I just wanted the production and instrumentation to be straightforward and blunt because that’s what the song is about. We didn’t even add a bridge or anything because I had really already said everything I had to say.”

Shoemaker’s tone across six songs on her latest EP, Everything is Embarrassing, is thumb-biting and electric, as she grazes various, ever-shifting sonic plates in pursuit of a singular voice. Later, she references Frank Ocean’s “Super Rich Kids” on “If You’re Going (I’ll Go),” an earth-splitting blues-pop rumbling that gets the juices flowing. Co-writer Louis Johnson laid out that grinding guitar riff, an appetizer to quench that initial hunger, and the song quickly sprouted wings on the spot.

Producer J.T. Daly (known as frontman of Nashville band Paper Route) also lends his songwriting chops, and Shoemaker began carving out the tongue-lashing top line. Production seemed to flow in tandem, a give and take that further elevated even the atmosphere in the studio. “This song was really a collaborative effort, and I think that shows,” Shoemaker remembers. “I don’t think it would have the same energy without all of the people who worked on it. We did want that hook moment to be big.”

As flames of a heartbreak were still all-consuming, etching a fuming, fire boundary around her brain, songs began spilling out of her fingertips. In many ways, “Someone” caps the raw, emotional ferocity with a thematic swerve into a happier and warmer lamplight. And musically, the closer first reclines back into a distorted, swirling pool before jolting you into a more rhythmic trance; those sonic configurations melt together to really cut to the heart of her emotional arc. “I had written all the other songs before the break up, and when I started to rehearse them with my band they all started to take on new meanings,” she says. “I got in the studio with my friend and close collaborator Will Baker and just kind of word vomited. I had been so hurt and just needed to write something positive. I needed to remind myself that even though I was upset now good things would come again.”

The breakup, and the eventual creative renaissance, was her turning point.

Now, she’s stronger, thicker-skinned, and more capable. Everything is Embarrassing makes a statement, absolutely, but without baring her entire hand. She’s got more cards to play, and time is already on her side. Below, she offers up insight on other essential cuts, songwriting growth, and importance of heartbreak.

Since your 208 debut EP, East Side, how have you seen your songwriting grow?

I think I feel a lot less afraid to be specific and honest. Also, I think factoring in my live setup was a huge factor. I perform with a bass player and a drummer, so I wanted to make sure the music I was putting out would work for that show set up.

On the new release, “Funny” is another moment which has some fascinating layers, from the crisp percussive elements to your chilled R&B inflection. What was the process in building those pieces together?

“Funny” had been written for a while. I just wanted something different for this song. I think it really ran the risk of being corny just because the lyrics could go that way. So, with the production, I wanted it to be weird and interesting. I feel like you can get away with saying anything in a song as long as it sounds cool. In this case, it was: “pick up the phone when I’m too stoned.”

With “So Low,” you sing, “Constantly comparing myself to everyone else / Doing more than I can give.” What was your emotional headspace in writing this, and did you come closer to understanding yourself a bit more?

This was another stream of consciousness writing moment for me. I wrote this on one of my days off from the studio in Nashville. I was down there recording my EP, staying in an Airbnb and just had a lot of time alone with my thoughts. The vibe down there is really different than what I’m used to living in New York. I just was thinking a lot about my life in New York and how much pressure I feel in social situations to be a certain type of person ⏤ especially when it comes to social media. We’re always expected to be “living our best lives,” and that’s just so not true. It is so unrealistic. For example, I was recording my music in Nashville with an incredible producer ⏤ something I’d never dreamed I’d do ⏤ yet I was still feeling anxious and shitty at times.

Would things have been different without the heartbreak which propelled this EP?

It’s hard to say because I really do write from my personal experiences. There are times I just kind of write without thinking about my life, but it always does end up going back to something I’m feeling subconsciously. Generally speaking, I think heartbreak is important because it really makes you appreciate the opposite of that.

Is this the kind of project you needed to do in order to let the pain go before moving ahead?

Yes, for sure. I think a lot of growing up was done in writing this EP, and now, I’m ready to be even more honest and open with myself. I feel like a lot of the pain I was feeling was hidden in cheeky lines and moments throughout these songs. I want to keep doing that, but I also want to take better care of myself and actually feel these feelings and not hide behind my songs.

You’ve noted how Brooklyn made you feel more grounded in your writing. How so?

I’ve just been really lucky and have met a really nice community of people who have become like family to me. That’s just been the most important thing for me working in the music industry ⏤ finding people I can trust and just be myself around.

Some of your lyrics could easily be reapplied to the current state of the world. Do catastrophes like this make you rethink your own work – or music, in general?

I write a lot about anxiety and think this could definitely apply to the uncertain time were living in now. I think also just having music to listen to as a distraction during this time is moral boosting.

Follow Shoemaker on her socials: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram