corook steals their power back on “Kleptomaniac,” a buoyant pop anthem from their big-hearted, soul-searching EP ‘How do I relate to you?’ that makes self-possession – the act of choosing yourself – feel like a bridge between personal freedom and human connection. Speaking with Atwood Magazine, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter traces a path through viral backlash, people-pleasing, political disillusionment, and the joy of making songs with friends, landing on a hard-won truth: Being fully yourself can be a way back to the world.
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Stream: “Kleptomaniac” – corook
Looking like a kleptomaniac, stealing all my power back / I guess I would rather make you mad than to bore myself…
* * *
Self-possession looks suspicious when you’ve spent your life trying to be easy to love.
corook’s “Kleptomaniac” turns that uneasy act of taking yourself back into a bright, buoyant pop anthem – fun, cheeky, and full of grin-inducing defiance as they choose honesty over being liked. “Looking like a kleptomaniac / stealing all my power back,” they sing in the chorus, their voice a lightning rod of feeling as the song bounces forward with gang-vocal warmth, propulsive charm, and tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Katie called me drunk on a weekend
FaceTime tour of her apartment
Big-ass window with some long blinds
And one of them just doesn’t sit right
She said, “If you were one, you’d be that one”
I said, “What the f*** you mean by that, ho?”
“So specifically you, so true to yourself
That you stick out like a sore thumb”
Looking like a kleptomaniac
Stealing all my power back
I guess I would rather make you mad
Than to bore myself
Looking like a life-size sour patch
Scrunching faces, but I’m still a snack
If I’m not your taste, that’s too bad
I enjoy myself
Out now via Atlantic Records, “Kleptomaniac” is corook’s second single of 2026, following the viral spark of January’s “Scooby,” and now sits at the heart of their six-song EP How do I relate to you? Actively releasing music since 2021, the Nashville-based singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist (née Corinne Savage) has long had a gift for wrapping vulnerability in playful popcraft – from “if i were a fish” and “it’s ok” to last year’s debut album committed to a bit – but this latest chapter feels bolder, louder, and more self-claimed. After the backlash that followed their viral “they/them energy” moment, corook returns here not by softening the edges that made strangers uncomfortable, but by sharpening them into song.
“I’m just a guy trying to do this music thing as honestly as possible,” corook tells Atwood Magazine. “I got knocked down pretty bad last year by becoming a viral meme (they them energy) and getting back up with this new project I feel like a new version of myself. A truer version of myself.”
That truer self is all over “Kleptomaniac,” a song that sparkles because it refuses to ask permission.
Its opening verse begins with a FaceTime joke from corook’s sister Katie – one crooked blind in an apartment window becoming a perfect metaphor for sticking out: “So specifically you, so true to yourself / that you stick out like a sore thumb.” From there, the song becomes a gloriously off-center manifesto for anyone who’s been bent out of shape by life and learned to like the new angle better. “Used to be a square, but life bent me,” corook sings, transforming outsiderhood into a punchline, a badge, and a little act of freedom.
“I think subconsciously earlier in my career as corook my main goal was to be liked and heard because both of those things are a big part of having a successful career,” they share. “But they don’t always make for a happy person. I realized in the past year that if I want a long career doing what I love it needs to feel more true to myself, and not like I’m trying to be liked. The songs on this EP feel like the start of that.”
“My first album came out last year and I became a viral meme from a clip singing ‘they/them energy,’” corook says of the song’s origin. “The US has a lot of awful things to say about Trans people so the backlash was a lot. It was as if the one place I felt safe, making my songs, became a place I could be really hurt. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to return to music after that. It took a lot of soul searching to find why I cared so much what these strangers were saying about who I am, what I look like, what I sound like and ultimately why I believed them so easily. Writing this song was my first time revisiting music after all that and when I sang ‘I guess I would rather make you mad, than to bore myself,’ I knew that in my time away from making songs, I created a stronger relationship with myself.”
That line is the song’s emotional engine: “I guess I would rather make you mad / than to bore myself.”
It’s funny because it’s true, and it lands because corook delivers it with such disarming ease – not as a defensive snarl, but as a warm, mischievous shrug from someone who has finally stopped twisting themselves into a more palatable shape. “Looking like a life-size sour patch / scrunching faces, but I’m still a snack,” they sing, turning discomfort into candy-colored confidence. The song’s sweetness deepens its purpose, making self-reclamation into something communal – a chorus you can chant with friends, shout from a crowd, and carry back into your own life.
Learnеd all my shapes in elementary
Used to be a square, but life bent me
Got a couple places I don’t fit in
Better off without ’em, good riddance
All the other squares, they treat me funny
Straight-and-narrow might be jealous of me
So specifically me, nothing else I can be
And they can only fantasize
Looking like a kleptomaniac
Stealing all my power back
Guess I would rather make you mad
Than to bore myself
Looking like a life-size sour patch
Scrunching faces, but I’m still a snack
And if I’m not your taste, that’s too bad
I enjoy myself
“As someone that grew up chronically pleasing other people it feels wrong to put myself first,” corook reflects. “It feels morally like I’m doing something wrong by not considering other people before myself. And that’s so f***ed up haha. It shows how deep the brainwashing goes. I learned to be good over everything else, to be nice over everything else, from church, from school, from my parents, from the world at large. I learned not to go against the grain. So really this song is me saying I’m going to be myself over everything else, even if it feels wrong to myself or the people around me or the people consuming me and my art. Because I know at my core there is nothing wrong with considering myself first, and there’s nothing wrong with who I am.”
This reclamation widens in the bridge, where corook’s personal anthem becomes a call for something more honest and humane: “I want to talk to people with a heart / and I want to come together, not apart.” The song may be quirky and smile-inducing on the surface, but underneath its lilt and bounce is a real ache for connection without performance, conversation without cruelty, identity without apology. “Kleptomaniac” makes honesty feel exhilarating. It’s bold and buoyant, warm and wired, a sugar-rush pop song with a bruised heart and a gleaming grin – corook stealing back their power in real time, and making the whole room feel good while they do it.
That feeling doesn’t stop at the song’s final chorus. Since “Kleptomaniac” first arrived, corook’s larger question has come into full view on How do I relate to you?, a six-song EP about trying to stay connected when honesty muddles everything. “How do I relate to you? is about staying connected when things feel complicated,” corook says, “especially in moments of fear, disagreement, or uncertainty, and choosing to keep showing up anyway. It explores that question in my relationship with myself, my wife, my neighbors, my family, and even the country I live in. At its core, it holds onto the hope that we’re still trying.”
This sense of hope gives the EP its true pulse. Built with Kevin Farzad and James Alan in a garage-studio spirit, How do I relate to you? keeps corook’s popcraft handmade and human – funny because life is absurd, tender because the absurdity still hurts. If “Scooby” stares down the systems we help feed and “Banana peel” slips through the unease of being seen, “Kleptomaniac” is the moment corook stops shrinking for anyone’s comfort. It’s the EP’s bright act of theft: Taking back the self so connection can begin somewhere more honest.
This song is me saying I’m going to be myself over everything else, even if it feels wrong to myself or the people around me or the people consuming me and my art. Because I know at my core there is nothing wrong with considering myself first, and there’s nothing wrong with who I am.
* * *
Within this wider arc, “Kleptomaniac” feels less like a standalone anthem than a hinge: The point where self-protection becomes self-possession, and self-possession opens back outward.
corook isn’t stealing power for the sake of keeping it clenched in a fist; they’re taking back enough of themselves to stay in the room, tell the truth, and still reach for other people. For listeners who have learned to trade clarity for safety – to shrink themselves, to soften their edges, or to stay quiet altogether – that choice carries real weight. corook makes courage communal: Their songs take the private work of self-acceptance and give it the color, humor, and lift of pop music without sanding away the fear and pain underneath.
In a culture that still asks queer and trans people to defend their own existence, corook’s presence feels vital – specific, generous, and fully human – because they channel survival into something singable, and even more importantly, something visible. “Kleptomaniac” and its parent EP are special for that reason: This music doesn’t just celebrate choosing yourself; it makes that choice feel contagious, reminding anyone still waiting for permission that their fullest voice might be exactly what someone else needs to hear.
Atwood Magazine recently caught up with corook to talk about choosing honesty over being liked, channeling discomfort into pop catharsis, the handmade joy of their new songs, and why stealing back your power can be the first step toward finding your way back to others. What at first blush feels like theft ultimately turns out to be something closer to freedom: The sound of corook choosing themselves, and still reaching outward. That’s the charge carrying this era forward: A reminder that the parts of ourselves we’re taught to hide may be the very pieces that help someone else feel less alone.
Shut up (Shut up)
If you’ve got nothing nice
to say, shut up (Shut up)
And if you don’t wanna
change, shut up (Shut up)
You’re just the loudest in the room
Doesn’t mean you tell the truth, so shut up
I want (I want) to talk to people with a heart
And I want (I want)
to come together, not apart
But it’s tough (It’s tough)
when the entire game is rigged
Both sides are talking shit, you wind up
Looking like a kleptomaniac
Stealing all my power back
Guess I would rather make you mad
Than to bore myself
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:: stream/purchase Kleptomaniac here ::
:: connect with corook here ::
:: stream/purchase How do I relate to you? here ::
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Stream: “Kleptomaniac” – corook
A CONVERSATION WITH COROOK
Atwood Magazine: corook, for those who are just discovering you today through this writeup, what do you want them to know about you and your music?
corook: I’m just a guy trying to do this music thing as honestly as possible. I got knocked down pretty bad last year by becoming a viral meme (they them energy) and getting back up with this new project I feel like a new version of myself. A truer version of myself.
Who are some of your musical north stars at the moment, and what are you most excited about the music you're making today?
corook: Foster the People comes to mind for this era of corook. Their record Torches was on heavy rotation when it came out in 2011, and it’s been something I’ve revisited a lot this year. The album sounds super playful and handmade in a 1 of 1 way which is something I really wanted for the EP. I think what I’m most excited about with the new songs is how much of a freaking blast they are to play with my friends. I’ve made a lot of pop music that requires lots of tracks and 808s for them to translate live, and this EP just feels made by human hands while holding onto all the fun things about pop music.
Your first track of the year, “Scooby,” has already racked up millions of streams! What do you make of everyone's strong reactions to this song, and what is your relationship like with it, a few months out from its release?
corook: I was sort of shocked by everyone’s electric reaction to it, mostly because I was scared of being so honest in a song. But it’s not surprising people relate to it, the US is in shambles right now and no one knows what to believe and where to put their faith. The abundant reaction makes me feel less alone and it also gives me hope that there’s more people waking up to the truth of our country than I thought.
You’ve said your song “Kleptomaniac” is about learning to choose being honest over being liked, and I’m really struck by that notion. Can you share more about that decision, and how it’s manifested in your own life?
corook: I think subconsciously earlier in my career as corook, my main goal was to be liked and heard because both of those things are a big part of having a successful career. But they don’t always make for a happy person. I realized in the past year that if I want a long career doing what I love it needs to feel more true to myself, and not like I’m trying to be liked. The songs on this EP feel like the start of that.
I love how you call this song an anthem of authenticity – that sentiment definitely resonates throughout. What’s the story behind “Kleptomaniac”?
corook: My first album came out last year and I became a viral meme from a clip singing “they/them energy.” The US has a lot of awful things to say about Trans people, so the backlash was a lot. It was as if the one place I felt safe, making my songs, became a place I could be really hurt. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to return to music after that. It took a lot of soul searching to find why I cared so much what these strangers were saying about who I am, what I look like, what I sound like and ultimately why I believed them so easily. Writing this song was my first time revisiting music after all that and when I sang “I guess I would rather make you mad, than to bore myself,” I knew that in my time away from making songs, I created a stronger relationship with myself.
You have this wonderful line, “Looking like a kleptomaniac, stealing all my power back,” in the chorus. What does being a ‘kleptomaniac’ mean for you, in the context of this song?
corook: As someone that grew up chronically pleasing other people, it feels wrong to put myself first. It feels morally like I’m doing something wrong by not considering other people before myself. And that’s so f***ed up, haha. It shows how deep the brainwashing goes. I learned to be good over everything else, to be nice over everything else, from church, from school, from my parents, from the world at large. I learned not to go against the grain. So really, this song is me saying I’m going to be myself over everything else, even if it feels wrong to myself or the people around me or the people consuming me and my art. Because I know at my core there is nothing wrong with considering myself first, and there’s nothing wrong with who I am.
This song is truly chock full of instantly memorable lines - from “Looking like a life-size sour patch / Scrunching faces, but I'm still a snack” to “Used to be a square, but life bent me,” I’m dazzled by your songwriting! Do you have any favorite lyrics from this track especially, and what was your songwriting process like here?
corook: Well thank you!! Those are a couple of my favorites as well. I think honestly just the first verse as a whole is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Katie is my little sister so getting to include what it feels like to talk to her was really sweet and fun. I brought that verse and an idea for the chorus to my collaborators and we just really ran with that fun feeling of trying to make each other laugh for the next line and continue telling a good story. I have a rule that if a line can make us as songwriters laugh it has to go in the song.
Katie called me drunk on a weekend
FaceTime tour of her apartment
Big-ass window with some long blinds
And one of them just doesn’t sit right
She said, “If you were one, you’d be that one”
I said, “What the f*** you mean by that, ho?”
“So specifically you, so true to yourself
That you stick out like a sore thumb”
Your bridge expands the song’s message to something really meaningful – “I want to talk to people with a heart, and I want to come together, not apart / But it's tough when the entire game is rigged, both sides are talking shit, you wind up looking like a kleptomaniac…” Can you share more about this final message here?
corook: I think all of us living in the USA right now are looking completely insane. I’m mostly talking about the left vs right thing in the US. Everyone is white knuckle grasping to their version of the truth, the version that their side believes, the version that makes them look right and look like a good person. When ultimately I think we’re all being screwed by a system that feeds off of us fighting each other. There’s no left vs right, it’s rich vs poor. And we are all poor compared to that 1% that’s running things. We’re stuck in a cycle of consuming the garbage our side wants us to believe about the other side. And until we stop demonizing everyone and having conversations about what’s actually TRUE we’re all screwed. So, until then, I’m going to look like a crazy trans radical leftist for being who I am instead of just your neighbor.
What do you hope listeners take away from this single, and what have you taken away from creating it and now putting it out?
corook: I’ve learned so much about how I like to make music with this song. It was the first song I made with these collaborators, James Alan and Kevin Farzad, and I learned I love being in a room playing instruments and just seeing what happens. I know that sounds simple, but the process of songwriting sessions in LA is not always like that, not everyone plays instruments and I’ve found making it feel like a band of friends makes the whole process of opening up and having fun way easier for me.
In the spirit of paying it forward, who are you listening to these days that you would recommend to our readers?
corook: I feel like my music consumption is very seasonal and right now I’m in a “not-listening-so-much” season. I am, however, listening to a lot of people’s political reflections, here’s some of my favorite people to listen to.
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:: stream/purchase Kleptomaniac here ::
:: connect with corook here ::
:: stream/purchase How do I relate to you? here ::
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Stream: “Kleptomaniac” – corook
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