In conversation with Atwood Magazine, Isabel LaRosa discusses the dark-pop influences that shaped her debut album ‘Raven,’ life on the Psychopomp tour, and what fans can expect next from the up-and-coming pop star.

Stream: ‘Raven’ – Isabel LaRosa

I like the fact that when you go to a show of an artist that you love, it is really like an escape from everything. I want it to feel like you’re being brought into a different world for an hour and a half – like in a way I lead you somewhere, and then you come back at the end of it.

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If you’ve ever stared out the window of a slowly moving car and imagined your life as a music video, Isabel LaRosa has just released your new favorite album.

Raised in Annapolis, Maryland and now based in Los Angeles, LaRosa has arrived to pop music with an eye for detail and a taste for darkness. Her sound moves between sharp, high-gloss moments and softer, shadowy ones – like an alt-pop soundtrack built to score your most unfiltered thoughts.

On Raven (released April 18 via Slumbo Labs / RCA Records), LaRosa delivers a highly intentional and thought out album that showcases the young singer’s artistry and potential. The album’s title pulls directly from mythology and folklore, where the raven is a guide between worlds. “I love things with a narrative,” she says. “There’s just so much more that goes into putting together an entire body of work… I wanted the order to be really specific.”

Where previous singles hinted at her potential, Raven lands with full form and finality. The album doesn’t wallow in heartbreak – it cuts deeper to how LaRosa is really feeling. “Half the album was written from not a place of anger,” LaRosa explains, “and then half… from this place of heartbreak and anger.” Songs like “Burning” and “Cry for You” show her precision with tone, crafting lyrics that flicker between pain and power. “There’s a feeling of finality to them,” she says. “It’s not like, ‘Oh I’m just so sad this is over.’ It’s like, ‘No, f* you.’”

How’s it feel to finally lose me, baby?
Do you feel me in your empty house?
Better hold on to the memory, baby
‘Cause it’s all you’re gonna live with now

You took a good girl and broke her to pieces
‘Cause you like to leave a bruise
It sounds like I’m heartless, just using my heart less
‘Cause that’s what you made me do

I won’t cry for you
Like I did when I was yours
I won’t lie to you
Just ’cause you’re so insecure, oh
Good luck tryna to live with yourself
You look for me in everyone еlse
And I won’t cry for you, I won’t cry…

– “Cry for You,” Isabel LaRosa

What truly sets LaRosa apart is the bond she’s built with her listeners, one that existed long before Raven ever dropped.

“Social media has enabled me to have a career very quickly,” she says. “It really does feel like one big friend group.” While most artists use a debut tour to meet their audience for the first time, LaRosa already knew hers. These weren’t strangers singing along – they were longtime voices from her digital orbit, showing up in real life.

That familiarity gave her Psychopomp tour, which launched the same day as the album, a rare emotional charge. “I’ve opened for artists for a long time,” she explains. “So it was surreal to be at those same venues, but now it was for me.” In Toronto, she described to us pausing mid-show, stunned by the symmetry: “It looked exactly the same. It was a weird sense of déjà vu. Like, wow – this is actually real.”

Now, with Lollapalooza ahead and another round of touring on the horizon, LaRosa teases something more: “I’m planning maybe something related to the album that is very fun at this exact moment.” If her past is any clue, she’s already a few steps into the next world.

We chatted with LaRosa to talk about all things Raven, some of her favorite songs and lyrics on the album, and what fans can expect next.

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:: stream/purchase Raven here ::

:: connect with Isabel LaRosa here ::

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A CONVERSATION WITH ISABEL LAROSA

Isabel LaRosa: It’s really cool because I’ve never put out any kind of body of work that wasn’t an EP. Especially right now, the album is something that is a very personal thing to me. I was mildly nervous about sharing it and just the fact that it was a debut album. I went on tour the day it dropped for a month, and being able to see the reaction of people basically in live time was so cool.

And what they did for songs like “Burning”… They made fan projects and created all these different things – it was really special to watch people react to the album and learn the words more throughout the tour.

Isabel LaRosa: It’s definitely different. I mean, I feel like there’s just much more that goes into putting together an entire body of work than a single. Both are incredibly important, but it comes down to making sure that everything was consistent – I wanted the order to be specific and the theme.

There’s just so many more things that you have to think about. I just love things with a narrative, and so that was something I really wanted to focus on. It took time to make sure all the pieces are in the right place and all the things are aligned how they should be.

Isabel LaRosa: To put it broadly, I would say it’s dark pop, like alternative pop. But I feel like the album specifically goes through a lot of different feelings… It’s more dark, emotional pop.

Isabel LaRosa: Honestly, lyrically on “Burning” – that song was really important to me and very important for me to write. I think it captures a lot of what I want to say. Half the album was written from not a place of anger, and then half the album was written from this place of heartbreak and anger. I feel like on “Cry for You” and “Burning,” they really capture what I want to say because I think there’s a feeling of finality to them – and like, this is it, and this is how I feel. I really like the fact that it’s not like, “Oh I’m just so sad that this is over,” it’s like “No, f* you.”

You can’t ever really take your foot off of the gas. You always have to be thinking about the next thing, and the next song to tease.

Isabel LaRosa: I mean, social media – I’m so incredibly grateful for the fact that it exists. I think there are positives and negatives. It has enabled me to be able to have a career very quickly, and I’m grateful for that. The downside of it is that, you know, it does move so fast that you can’t ever really take your foot off of the gas. You always have to be thinking about the next thing, and the next song to tease. Regardless, it’s so cool that I get to talk to the people that support me. It really does feel like one big friend group, and I feel like it’s so cool to be able to be that close with them, you know?

Isabel LaRosa: Yeah. It was honestly probably my favorite tour so far. It was just such a f*ing crazy experience, and the fact that I’m able to do it for a living is so wild to me. I’ve opened for artists for a long time, and so I played a lot of venues on this tour where I’d opened for other people before. It’s so surreal to be at the same venue, and playing it, but it’s for me instead.

There was one show specifically in Toronto where I opened for an artist, Nessa Barrett, and it was literally my first tour ever. I remember in Toronto I looked out and it looked exactly the same as one of those shows – it was a weird sense of déjà vu. It was so crazy to look out and see that, like actually it was real.

I’ve opened for artists for a long time, and so I played a lot of venues on this tour where I’d opened for other people before. It’s so surreal to be at the same venue, and playing it, but it’s for me instead.

Isabel LaRosa: We announced the tour before we announced the album, and so I wanted it to tie into the concept of the album. In mythology and folklore, the Raven oftentimes represents a being that guides you into the afterlife. I wanted to connect the tour to the album in that way. I like the fact that when you go to a show of an artist that you love, it is really like an escape from everything. I want it to feel like you’re being brought into a different world for an hour and a half – like in a way I lead you somewhere, and then you come back at the end of it.

Isabel LaRosa: I’m playing Lollapalooza, which is great. I mean, it’s just so many shows and so many things. I’m planning maybe something related to the album that is very fun at this exact moment!

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:: stream/purchase Raven here ::

:: connect with Isabel LaRosa here ::

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 © Sam Monendo

Raven

an album by Isabel LaRosa