Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Eliza Edens leans into their sharpest contradictions on the bold and buoyant “Leash,” a breezy, feel-good indie rock song that finds freedom in embracing our darker impulses while learning to keep them in check.

Stream: “Leash” – Eliza Edens

“I’m a goddamn killer.”

The hardest parts of ourselves rarely announce their arrival – they slip in quietly, disguised as instinct, defense, or desire.

The urge to say the wrong thing, to sabotage a good thing, to lean into the chaos instead of resisting it – these impulses don’t make us broken, but they do make us human. Living with them means learning not to silence them entirely, but to understand their place, their pull, and their limits.

That push and pull lives at the core of “Leash,” a song that doesn’t try to resolve contradiction so much as sit inside it. With a wink and a steady pulse, Eliza Edens turns inward reckoning into something bright, buoyant, and unexpectedly freeing – a portrait of self-awareness that dances as much as it confesses.

I’m a goddamn killer
Ended many things
F*ed up your mind
And stole your parents’ wedding ring

I’m a double-timer
Triple-tongued hypocrite liar
Commit to you and cash checks
For the other side

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Leash,” the breezy, tongue-in-cheek indie rock return from Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Eliza Edens. Marking their first studio release in three years, the standalone single arrives as both a reintroduction and a subtle reinvention – trading the lush, fingerpicked textures of their earlier work for a more playful, full-band palette of bouncy bass lines, watery keys, and off-kilter guitars. It’s a shift that feels both deliberate and instinctual, opening the door to a brighter, more rhythm-forward sound while still holding onto the emotional depth that’s long defined their songwriting.

Edens leans into that duality with both curiosity and playfulness, embracing the contradictions that live just beneath the surface. “‘Leash’ celebrates the shadow self – our darker impulses, the devil on our shoulder, and the cynic inside us all,” they tell Atwood Magazine.

This comes to life across the song’s tight two-minute run as Edens slips deftly between confession and character, stacking sharp, self-aware lines that blur the line between truth and exaggeration. “I’m a goddamn killer,” they open, before unraveling a string of contradictions – a “double-timer,” a “hypocrite liar” who “stole your parents’ wedding ring,” someone caught between impulse and intention, chaos and control. Even at its most biting, there’s a looseness in the delivery, a rhythmic buoyancy that keeps everything in motion. The tension isn’t heavy-handed; it flickers, dances, and reshapes itself in real time, mirroring the very push and pull the song sets out to explore.

And I’m so sad I’m dancing
Smiling at the end of a romance
Where I forgot my highs
And who I was inside
Oh but I

Don’t wanna be
My enemy
Just keep the killers on a leash

That sense of movement – where meaning lives as much in rhythm as in revelation – traces back to the song’s origin.

“I came up with the first line of the song when I had a horrible roach infestation in my previous apartment (thank goodness I’ve moved since),” they share. “I was killing them all the time, so honestly the first line is very true. Then I sort of went off from there.”

“It’s about a lot of different things at the same time,” they add. “I wanted to play around with a more rhythmic style of singing, and so this song is as much about how the words sound in the song as it is about any kind of narrative.”

That origin story lingers in the song’s DNA – instantly provocative while grounded in something oddly mundane, before stretching into larger and more abstract spaces. Edens treats language like texture as much as storytelling, letting syllables bounce, bend, and collide with the groove. Meaning arrives in layers: In the phrasing, in the cadence, in the way each line lands just slightly off-center. It’s that balance – between instinct and intention, humor and heaviness – that gives “Leash” its bite, and its release.

And I’m so scared I’m fearless
There’s nothing that can shake me
Oh I skinned my knees, broke my dreams
And crawled to the other side

I don’t know what’s in me
Or even if you’re listening
But there’s a part of you
That feeds on me at night

This fluidity finds its anchor in the chorus, where Edens distills the song’s inner tension into a single, striking plea: “Don’t wanna be my enemy / Just keep the killers on a leash.” It’s a line that lands with clarity and weight – less about erasing those darker instincts than learning how to live alongside them without letting them take control. The image itself is vivid and immediate: Not destruction, not denial, but restraint. Awareness over avoidance.

Don’t wanna be
My enemy
Just keep the killers on leash

There’s a quiet power in that framing, in the choice to acknowledge the parts of yourself that feel volatile or unruly and still claim ownership over them. Sung with a lightness that almost masks its gravity, the chorus becomes the song’s emotional center – a moment of feel-good, fearless self-recognition that doesn’t ask for perfection, only balance.

Instinct and restraint, chaos and control – this balance sits at the heart of the song’s meaning, and it’s Edens leans into it fully and unapologetically.

“[It’s] about balancing different sides of oneself and being okay with some of those sides not agreeing with each other – or perhaps even being in conflict,” they say. “I enjoy songs where the feel doesn’t always match the lyrical content. To me, it’s richer in meaning.”

That friction runs through every layer of “Leash.” The music sways with an easy, almost playful energy, while the lyrics wrestle with identity, contradiction, and self-trust. It’s that interplay – bright and biting, loose and deliberate – that gives “Leash” its staying power, inviting us to sit inside our own contradictions rather than rush to resolve them.

Don’t wanna be
My enemy
Just keep the killers on leash

As catchy as it is cathartic, “Leash” hits with an easy, infectious charm, all bounce and bite from the very first note. What makes this song linger, long after the final note, is the way Edens reframes self-awareness as something expansive rather than restrictive. There’s a freedom in naming the parts of ourselves we’re taught to suppress, in letting them exist without letting them lead. Edens doesn’t tidy those impulses up or turn them into a lesson; they let them breathe, let them move, and in doing so, frame self-awareness as an ongoing practice rather than a fixed state.

In that sense, “Leash” feels less like a confession and more like an invitation – to loosen our grip, to listen a little closer, and to hold ourselves with a touch more compassion, even when things feel messy. It’s a small shift, but a meaningful one, and it’s carried here with a lightness that makes it all the more lasting. The hardest parts of ourselves don’t need to be silenced – only seen, understood, and maybe – just maybe – kept on a leash.

Stream “Leash” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and step into this bright, off-kilter return that opens the door to Eliza Edens’ next chapter while holding tight to the emotional core that’s always guided their work. Below, the artist opens up about their new song’s origins, their own creative evolution, and the freedom they’ve found in embracing a more playful, fluid approach to songwriting.

Don’t wanna be
My enemy
Just keep the killers on leash

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:: stream/purchase Leash here ::

:: connect with Eliza Edens here ::

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Stream: “Leash” – Eliza Edens

A CONVERSATION WITH ELIZA EDENS

Eliza Edens: I write songs because I don’t know how to stop. There’s a lot that’s sacred about it, beyond the trappings of the platform-based music industry game that artists have to play these days and the threats that AI and the attention economy pose. I feel very reverent towards and protective of that sacred-ness and personal touch (even though this new song is sort of irreverent haha). I am a cultural worker, and I take that work seriously.

Eliza Edens: “I Needed You” is a great breakup song. I love the acoustic slide guitar in the beginning and end. “Everything, Always, All the Time” is a micro-song that has a very winding melody and stream-of-consciousness abstract lyrical world. I love writing that balances more concrete and abstract lyricism, and both of those songs do that so I feel proud of them. Check it!

Eliza Edens: A handful of north stars among many are: The Beatles, Frank Ocean, Laura Marling, Bach, Debussy, Townes Van Zandt, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell. My north stars are also my friends and collaborators on my music: Dexter Wolfe, Pat Keen, Katie Martucci, Sam Talmadge, Jacob Drab… the list could go on and on.

I’m most excited about the fact that I feel limitless in my writing. I’ve been writing songs for over half my life now and it’s something I’m very confident with. I feel excited to write more and feel less and less pigeonholed into a genre or vibe of any kind. More recently, I’ve learned more about the creative side of production and mixing through collaborators and some classes I’ve taken and feel just so psyched up about all the musical possibilities.

Eliza Edens: I came up with the first line of the song when I had a horrible roach infestation in my previous apartment (thank goodness I’ve moved since). I was killing them all the time, so honestly the first line is very true. Then I sort of went off from there. It’s about a lot of different things at the same time. I wanted to play around with a more rhythmic style of singing, and so this song is as much about how the words sound in the song as it is about any kind of narrative.

Eliza Edens: That album is a collection of iPhone voice memos that I had no intention of releasing when I was recording them. It was a documentation of a period of intense grief. “Leash” has comparable darkness but it also has a levity and sense of humor that those songs don’t have. It hints at a more fleshed out, full-band sound with pop leanings.

Eliza Edens: This song is about balancing different sides of oneself and being okay with some of those sides not agreeing with each other – or perhaps even being in conflict. I enjoy songs where the feel doesn’t always match the lyrical content. To me, it’s richer in meaning.

Eliza Edens: “Hey, keep your inner cynic in-check so you don’t self-sabotage.”

Eliza Edens: I hope listeners take away that I’m shifting directions with my sound. I’ve released a couple albums of melancholic, folk-rock that revolve around the acoustic guitar and feeling wistful. That’s still a huge part of my artistry, but “Leash” signals a bit more edge and directness. This was one of the first songs I wrote where I was embodying a character more than my actual self, and it’s opened the door to more playfulness with my songwriting. It feels good to let it go now and fully embrace that fluidity of voice.

Eliza Edens: There are plans for a lot more music to be released!

Eliza Edens: I’ve been really digging the new album from Ally Evenson. The production choices are really wonky and unexpected. I am a huge fan of Tim Bernardes and have been constantly revisiting his album Mil Coisas Invisíveis since its 2022 release. The melodies are stunning, and I feel the music so deeply even though I have no clue what he is saying (he’s from Brazil so it’s all in Portuguese). I listen to WQXR a lot too (NYC’s classical music station).

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:: stream/purchase Leash here ::

:: connect with Eliza Edens here ::

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Stream: “Leash” – Eliza Edens

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art © Savannah Lauren

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