Anna Shoemaker opens up about heartbreak, self-discovery, and reclaiming her independence on her sophomore album ‘Someone Should Stop Her,’ a raw, radiant, and reflective collection of songs about learning to trust yourself, let go, and move forward.
‘Someone Should Stop Her’ – Anna Shoemaker
In the back of her grandpa’s car, winding through Montana’s vast, empty roads, Anna Shoemaker was reliving it all.
The heartbreak, the self-doubt, the late-night overthinking. Just weeks after the breakup, she was recreating her own pain for the sake of closure – or, at least, for the sake of art. With every replayed memory and every note of the music she was crafting, she was both confronting her past – and rewriting it in real time.
That delicate balance – between reflection and reinvention – sits at the heart of Anna Shoemaker’s soul-stirring songwriting. There’s an undeniable magic in her music—a rawness that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. If her debut album captured the chaos of self-destruction and redemption, her sophomore record, Someone Should Stop Her, is the sound of someone learning to trust herself, embrace uncertainty, and, ultimately, move forward.
Since her very first release seven years ago, Shoemaker has carved a space for herself as a diaristic songwriter, someone unafraid to document the messiness of life in real time. Her sophomore album is no exception. A breakup record in its essence, it chronicles the highs and lows of heartache, the cyclical nature of relationships, and, ultimately, the power of choosing yourself.
“Breakup and run,” Shoemaker sums it up simply, a philosophy that pulses through every note and lyric.
You could say I’m officially
cutting ties with the way I used to be
Overthinking everything that I eat
What happens if my heart forgets to beat?
You remind me of the guys in my hometown
Pick me up just to let me down
When I was younger
I really really wanted to be
Smarter than i am currently
I CARE
a little bit less every time you’re
NOT THERE
easier to get you off my mind it’s
NOT FAIR
But it’s real life baby and you can’t save me
– “Real Life,” Anna Shoemaker
If 2022’s debut album Everything Is Fine, I’m Only on Fire was a time capsule of Shoemaker’s early 20s, this new album feels like a reckoning with the past and a bold step into the future. Where once she let songs spill onto the page unfiltered, Someone Should Stop Her (released February 21st via +1 Records) reflects a more deliberate approach – rewrites, revisions, a willingness to sit with the feelings before cementing them in song. It’s a record that captures the duality of heartbreak: The immediate sting and the eventual clarity, the tears and the triumph.
“With my first album, I wasn’t doing any rewrites at that time… That was all. I was very much in the mode where, however the music comes out and however I write it in the moment, that’s what it is – and I was very serious about that,” she reflects. This time, she sat with songs for days, changed lines, re-recorded vocals, and more. Such attention to detail doesn’t take away from the album’s emotional authenticity; rather, it highlights her growth as an artist – someone who knows that storytelling isn’t just about the feeling in the moment, but about crafting a lasting narrative that resonates beyond her own experience.
Written and recorded over the course of a year, Someone Should Stop Her was shaped by long nights in Nashville, countless lyrical revisions, and a deep desire to find the right balance between vulnerability and strength.
Sonically, the album reflects Shoemaker’s deep admiration for artists who blend raw emotion with polished storytelling. “I’ve always been obsessed with Sheryl Crow,” she shares, citing Crow’s effortless mix of grit and melody as a guiding force. The album also takes cues from Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour and the textural, lo-fi warmth of Alex G. You can hear it in the balance between scrappy, unfiltered, stripped-back tracks like “Horse Girl” and the more refined, layered, full-bodied arrangements of “Not Your Baby” and “Back Again.” The result is an album that feels both expansive and intimate – crafted with intention but never losing its emotional edge. Shoemaker embraces the push-and-pull of self-reflection, manifesting the person she wants to become while honoring the version of herself she’s left behind.
The album’s title itself, Someone Should Stop Her, carries an almost ironic weight – because in truth, no one is stopping her.
“I think when you’re making a big decision, like ending a relationship, you look around for some kind of confirmation,” Shoemaker says. “Like, is someone going to tell me not to do this? But no one is going to make that call for you; you have to decide for yourself.” That realization sits at the core of this album: A shift from seeking external validation to trusting your own instincts.
It goes through all of the stages of breaking up, getting back together, breaking up again, and finally choosing yourself… Throughout it all, the only times that I was really struggling was when I wasn’t choosing myself, and I wasn’t putting myself first. The second that you do that, a lot changes.
* * *
Throughout our conversation, Shoemaker speaks candidly about her creative process, the weight of nostalgia, and the importance of seeking validation from within.
She reflects on the moments of catharsis – like filming music videos in Montana just weeks after her breakup – and the lessons she’s learned from making this album. It’s a project born out of pain, but fueled by resilience, a testament to growth, self-respect, and the inevitable realization that no one is coming to tell you what to do.
With Someone Should Stop Her, Anna Shoemaker isn’t just making music – she’s making peace with her past, writing herself into the future, and proving that, no, no one should stop her.
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:: stream/purchase Someone Should Stop Her here ::
:: connect with Anna Shoemaker here ::
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A CONVERSATION WITH ANNA SHOEMAKER
Atwood Magazine: Anna, where do we begin? When we first spoke about your debut album two years ago, you described it as a fascination with self-destruction, but also redemption. Three years on, what is your relationship like with Everything Is Fine, I'm Only on Fire – and how has that album grown with you over this time?
Anna Shoemaker: It’s really wild to look back on that album, and some of it is honestly really hard to listen to just because I really wish I could give that version of me a hug because I feel like I was obviously like… I think that your early 20s, it’s just a really tumultuous time no matter what. It’s you’re just figuring things out. And I really look back at that album as like a true, true diary entry. I wasn’t doing any rewrites at that time. I wasn’t like… That was all. I was like, I was very much in the mode where I was like, however the music comes out, like, however I write it in the moment, that’s what it is. And I was very serious about that, which is funny because now with this album, I rewrote so many things. I’d have to redo the vocal takes. I’d have to come in days later and be like, we have to change this line. So it kind of… I kind of went back on my philosophy on that. But it’s really cool to listen back to that album. I mean, not “cool” cool, but… It really does feel like a time capsule of my early, early 20s. And it’s kind of crazy.
You had gone on to describe that record as” bits and pieces of your diary over the first two years of COVID.” I know diaristic writing has been a key piece of your artistry since day one; does that still hold true to this day?
Anna Shoemaker: Yeah. I think I write mostly like, it’s all really in my songs. I try to keep a diary. I try to journal, and I always fall off. It’s always my New Year’s resolution, and I always fall off. But I feel like it really does come through in my song, and I really… It’s nice to go back and listen to some of them sometimes because it is like reading a diary. It’s like non… Like, you can’t… You know how you can kind of like, memories kind of can change in your mind, but when you read a diary entry or when you listen to a song that you wrote, it’s like, that’s really how I felt. You can’t really shift that perspective the same way that you can in your head. So it is kind of crazy sometimes.
I highly respect that, what you just said, but also the act of trying to keep a diary. Was that on the 2025 New Year's resolution list as well?
Anna Shoemaker: Yes! I’m always like, “I’m gonna read my book every day. I’m gonna start meditating. I’m gonna keep a diary. I’m gonna drink all this water. I’m gonna blah, blah, blah.” And I always fall off.
What are your overall goals for 2025?
Anna Shoemaker: I’m really excited to play some shows. I’m really excited to meet people, connect with people over the music. I’m also already kind of working on some new music too, which has been really just kind of like whiplash, because we literally just recorded this album last January…
Yeah, someone should stop you!
Anna Shoemaker: It’s kind of crazy. I think this is kind of the fastest rollout of an album that I’ve ever done because with my first album it was years and years and years of collecting songs. But this one, we only recorded it about a year ago. So it feels nice to put something out that feels very current.
And we're going to talk about that in just a second, but first, you debuted at 23 with a premiere right here on Atwood Magazine. Now you're 30 and putting out your sophomore album. How do you personally feel you’ve grown over these very tumultuous seven years?
Anna Shoemaker: It’s really crazy to look back. I think my artist project, me as an artist, is really just who I am as a person. There’s really no separation between me and the person putting out the songs, for better or for worse. So it kind of just like watching just trajectory of my actual life and going through relationships and family stuff, and it’s really just like it’s all just really who I am. So it’s been a journey for sure. But I’m really happy with where I am right now, and I really try to. It’s hard obviously. Everyone is my old music. I really try to stray from doing that because I think it’s a really cool thing to see growth, you know? It’s a really cool thing to be like, I found my sound or I matured in this way or maybe I’m learning a lot. I think it’s relatable. I think that everyone does that in their life. Just not everyone is putting out music that’s about detailed things in their personal life.
My artist project, me as an artist, is really just who I am as a person. There’s really no separation between me and the person putting out the songs, for better or for worse.
Same here, there are articles that I wrote five, ten years ago that I’ll reread and think, ‘the audacity of this kid!’
Anna Shoemaker: No. I know. It’s so crazy sometimes.
That said, are anxious dreams still pushing you out of sleep?
Anna Shoemaker: I don’t even… Yeah, yeah. But definitely, definitely, definitely. Honestly, I don’t dream in the traditional sense, but yes, ‘metaphorical’ anxious dreams are pushing me out of ‘metaphorical’ sleep.
I'm so sorry and happy to hear. It's good to have high hopes, I would say. This brings us to your sophomore album. Can you share a little about the story behind Someone Should Stop Her?
Anna Shoemaker: So it’s a breakup album. It kind of is about just the dissolution of a relationship and what happens after you break up and the feelings that come with that. It goes through all of the stages of breaking up and getting back together and breaking up again and finally choosing yourself. I think at the end of the album, it’s important for me to realize that throughout it all, the only times that I was really struggling was when I wasn’t choosing myself and I wasn’t putting myself first. The second that you do that, a lot changes.
As with any breakup album, do you feel that writing about it brought about catharsis for you?
Anna Shoemaker: For sure. I think the most cathartic thing was going to Montana and kind of filming the music videos and all of that stuff because it was really, really difficult to kind of re-enact my real life. It felt, really… Because it’s just hard. I really did go through a breakup and that was hard. And then a couple months later we went to Montana. And honestly, a couple weeks later. Honestly, a couple of days, we went to Montana and we filmed all of this stuff. And it was really, really difficult. And I remember I just cried in the car one day with my… My best friend, came with me, I cried in the car and I was like, this might be too crazy. I feel a little bit… I was saying earlier how there’s not a lot of separation between who I am as an artist and who I am as a person. I really felt that then, but I’m really glad that I did it because it was very cathartic. And I felt I got a lot of closure. And I feel like I was able to kind of move on after that because I was like, this is… If I’m telling this story, there has to kind of be an end to it.
So you're from Philly, you got your start in New York, you live in LA now. What inspired Montana as the backdrop for these visuals?
Anna Shoemaker: My family spends a lot of time in Montana and in Idaho. And it’s just always been… Since I was a baby, we’ve always gone to Idaho and my grandparents lived there. And it’s just kind of always been that place for me that’s like where if I envision myself running away or when I’ve been there, when I was younger, I was like, I could just stay here, and I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone. And that’s just kind of always been the place in my mind where I was like, okay, I’m just gonna… That’s gonna be my safe space. And we were able to use my grandpa’s car, which was really great. And it was like, yeah, this is exactly dream scenario. And when you’re able to just have your friend direct a music video, you can have your dream fake scenario. It’s like this would be my dream post breakup scenario. Even though I was in my real life, I was more on the road after the breakup. I was on the road on tour in a Toyota. This is the cooler version of that like driving through Montana in a suburban. In my grandpa’s suburban, listening to cassettes. The real version of that was me in a Toyota, listening to Gracie Abrams eating Cheez-Its and crying. [laughs]
Both perfectly good finales to a saga, one might say.
Anna Shoemaker: [laughs] Exactly, exactly! You have to kind of elevate things sometimes, you can’t believe everything you see on the Internet.
There’s a lot of manifesting in my music and a lot of becoming the person that I want to be.
Fair enough. It is nice to hear that you actually were able to give yourself a little bit of that, I suppose, by going there anyway, even if it was for work related purposes. I speak to so many people about this, especially as an artist, it's hard to give yourself that vacation and that time off because you see everyone around you going, going, going. And I think this is one of the pitfalls of our constantly connected age where we are always constantly comparing where we are and what we're doing to others. So I applaud you for fitting it in even...
Anna Shoemaker: The last night we were there, there was one of those crazy northern star events, the northern lights, Aurora borealis kind of thing, and it was so wild. It’s really cool, and it felt like a sign. We didn’t even know this was going to happen, but we’re here, and maybe this is the universe being like everything’s okay.
You've hailed this new album as being part of the season of setting habits and learning to trust your instincts; of this being the most freeing thing, and following your gut. Where do these qualities show up in the music of Someone Should Stop Her?
Anna Shoemaker: I think there’s a lot of manifesting in my music and a lot of becoming the person that I want to be, you know? An example I think would be in Back Again where I just over and over, I’m like, we’re gonna get it right. We’re gonna get it right. We’re gonna get it right. And there’s just a lot of talking about myself as the person that I want to be, talking about who I am, which is always there too. But I think that a lot of my writing is looking forward to being like, okay, how do I become this person? How do I kind of… I’m trying to think of another example too. I don’t know, there’s just a lot of like, you got this girl. Whenever I write… When I do write in a diary, it’s all like, you got this, this is how you’re gonna do this. This is how you’re gonna do that. It’s a lot of self reassurance and self validation and stuff like that. So I think there’s a lot of that in my music too like self-soothing. It’s like, you’re okay, literally the name of my first album, Everything is Fine, everything’s gonna kind of work itself out. Even if it doesn’t, even though you’re a train wreck.
I appreciate that though, and I think there's something to be said about putting your ideal version of yourself in your music. And then, if you're playing it every night, where is the line between ‘make believe’ and ‘reality’ really? You're just living your truth, and the music is your truth.
Anna Shoemaker: 100%. This album really specifically, for some reason, I don’t know, it really feels so… I think it’s because I… I don’t know. I got so close to it with all the rewrites. We did so many rewrites. It was so crazy. I don’t know why we… I think it’s because we also went down to Nashville for the month to record it. So we had so much time there because we don’t… It’s not like I have any friends down there really. So it was just kind of I’d be, we’d go to the studio all day and into the night, and then I’d go home where I was staying, and I would just look at the lyrics in my phone and I’d be like, no, this is the change. This, this, this. It was just like, I was so hyper fixated. So I feel so close to this. Rather than it just being kind of word vomit, which is also really cool. But I think that, yeah, I feel… I feel really, really, really close to it.
You started releasing singles as far back as a year ago with “Holly.” Why release that song first?
Anna Shoemaker: “Holly” had come out before we kind of had conceptualized the album at all. And Holly was… It’s interesting. Holly was kind of our North Star in a way. When we wrote “Holly,” we were like, okay, this actually feels the world that we want to build, this feels the direction we’re going. And “Holly” was on my last EP, too. And I think you can hear in that EP we start to kind of go towards those, more natural elements with a lot more acoustic guitar and guitar, and we go for a lot more live-ish elements. But I think that when we had Holly, we were like, okay, this is kind of the new thing that we need to do. And the next one that we had written after that, I think was Miniskirt, which is a song on the album. And I think you can hear it especially in those two songs, this kind of shift. And I literally feel like I hear myself sound more comfortable, and it just feels the way that my music is supposed to sound.
So “Holly” was kind of a breakthrough moment for us, so I really wanted to include it on the album because it was kind of the begin of that story. And I think it also is the beginning of a breakup because “Holly” is about not wanting to be the boy who cried wolf. I told Holly that we were good, so you have to be good, because I can’t go back to my friend and say that you’re messing up again. It’s a song about kind of a relationship in a downward spiral, and that spiral never went back up.
How chronological are the songs on this album? Do we read it as a front-to-back cover story, or is it a little more nuanced than that?
Anna Shoemaker: I think it’s a little more nuanced than that. And I also want people to be able to apply it to their own lives and see how it feels for them. And I think that also it could be… It could also be chronological. It’s just the nature of relationships and breakups are so all over the place. There is no possible way to be chronological unless you’re Siri and you’re like, okay, this is over now. There’s no way for feelings not to come back up. And one person feels like this. One person feels like this.
The start of the album is especially intimate. You kick off the record with “Real Life” – “You could say that I'm officially cutting ties with the way I used to be,” you sing at the start. Can you share the history of that song, and why you open with it?
Anna Shoemaker: I think that that was just kind of again, that manifesting thing, opening with the line, I’m cutting ties with the way I used to be. Just to me felt like it was like, okay, this is a new chapter, this is a new beginning, this is a new story kind of at everything that you heard. And this is where we’re starting now, this is real life, baby.
You’ve talked about this being a breakup album – speaking of things that left a bitter taste in my mouth, “Game of Thrones” gets a shout-out on this album.
Anna Shoemaker: I never saw it. I never saw Game of Thrones!
Ooh, a plot twist! Tell me more.
Anna Shoemaker: Yeah, it’s interesting. I think that the ‘Game of Thrones’ thing in my mind… This song to me is just about comparing yourself to everyone on the Internet and how it feels to just be, especially a woman or I mean, guys do it too. Just to be a person on the Internet who’s just like, you’re constantly inundated with people who are showing you the best versions of their life. It’s insane. It’s so crazy.
For me, “Game of Thrones” kind of had this double meaning because in the song I’m laying on the couch watching Game of Thrones. But also “Game of Thrones” is kind of this Internet… This is so dumb. And this is how my mind works. But this Game of Thrones is like, who can be the best, who can be the coolest, who can be the most indie, who can have the best mullet haircut, who can have the most vintage Levi’s, who can have the coolest thing? That’s what the Internet feels like. It’s like this. It feels like Game of Thrones out there sometimes, what I imagine the show to be like.
I think that song, for me, is this act of trying to steady yourself in this sea of comparison. And the chorus, I think, is kind of making fun of it. Like if all I… If I’m just dumb. If I just think about Jacob Elordi and think about my own personality and myself, then how could you expect anything else for me, you know? How could you actually expect me to be anyone if I’m so vapid, you know? So it’s just kind of poking fun at that and trying to make it feel lighter.
If I succumb to the wills of the world, how could you possibly expect me to be anything but the worst version of myself?
Anna Shoemaker: Exactly. Exactly. Yes. That’s exactly what we wanted.
Ballet core and wishing I could f* like a centerfold
WEBMD anything could be a possibility
If you’re asking me to go out tonight
Then it’s guaranteed social suicide
All I think about is Jacob Elordi
and if my personality’s getting boring
it’s no surprise
you can’t get what you want from me
On the couch fetal position in an evening gown
Game of thrones this is who i am it’s not an episode
I blacked out at the family reunion
told everyone I was writing a novel
In the morning I heard them talking,
it’s really awful someone should stop her
I know I have a lot of favorite moments, favorite lyrics on this album. What are some of your highlights that you hope people really listen to once the full record is out?
Anna Shoemaker: I think my favorite has always been “Wishful Thinking.” And there’s a lyric on it. I know like a stone knows a river. I know a stone knows a river. I know a finger on a trigger, I can’t call you up, I can’t be there when it all blows up, that, to me, feels such a huge growth moment. And we have that as the last song, and it kind of like it’s a nice bookend because it’s like, in the first song, I’m like, I’m cutting ties with who I used to be. And I think who I used to be is someone that would always prioritize a man that I was seeing. Or if I had feelings for someone I’m always prioritizing, making myself smaller for these relationships that really weren’t benefiting me in the way that I was trying to. I just was… It was just not working out for me, you know? And I think that, ‘I can’t be there when it all blows up,’ is such a huge growth moment for me because I can’t keep cleaning up other people’s messes. I have to keep myself afloat. I have my own messes to tend to.
And I think that there was a long time where I was avoiding my own mess by being like, well, I have to help this person. I have to do this. I have to do this. It’s like martyr or not martyr, but I don’t know. It’s also bad. It’s also a bad thing to do. So I think that Wishful Thinking for me is like, well, I wish we could go back and redo things we can’t. And I’m not that girl for you, and you’re not that guy. And I also love at the end of Wishful Thinking like, I came up with this little piano part, and in the recording, in the end, you hear me say, I got it. So that’s actually, the last thing that said on the album, which is like, I got it. And I do feel after this album, I’m like, okay, I got it somewhat. I do feel like my feet are on the ground. I do feel I got it.
It’s like, ‘I’ve got it. I have an idea for what I'm actually doing here, finally.’
Anna Shoemaker: My music is the most important thing to me, and that is my personal life. It’s really my whole… It’s everything to me. Writing songs is the most important thing in my life. It’s my most important relationship. Just my writing relationship with myself is not so sad. But I think it’s that. It’s I got it. I kind of know where I want to go and I know what I want to do, which is write more songs and play more shows and meet more people that also love doing that stuff, too.
I think that, ‘I can’t be there when it all blows up,’ is such a huge growth moment for me because I can’t keep cleaning up other people’s messes… I have my own messes to tend to.
I really do feel like on this record, you're starting to make your own imprint and find your own sound, so to speak. What were your North Stars, if you had any, and how did you go about building the sonic world of this album?
Anna Shoemaker: I think some of our North Stars were… Because when we drove down, we had all the demos, most of the demos for the album basically done, and we drove down to Nashville. So that was a long drive. I think we were kind of talking a lot about, how do we really want this to sound? The writing was all pretty much there, obviously, the chords and everything, but we were like, how do we really want this to feel?
A couple of the albums that we kept coming back to was anything Kacey Musgraves – I’m obsessed with Kacey Musgraves; I’m really obsessed with Deeper Well, and then my producer was really obsessed with Golden Hour. So those two albums. And then we also listened to a lot of the latest Alex G record. I really love those sounds so much, and I love his writing.
And my whole life I’ve been so obsessed with Sheryl Crow. When I was young, that was one of the CDs my mom had in our car. She is my ultimate North Star with writing and sound and her attitude and everything. I think it was really, Sheryl Crow, Alex G, and Kacey Musgraves.
I love that for you. That was a great record. When I think about the variety on this album, you have everything from “Horse Girl,” which feels like a demo, to “Not Your Baby” and “Back Again,” which are highly produced, but still embrace that rough-around-the-edges vibe. I feel like that's the soul of this record, where you’ve taken off the sheen, and you're kind of letting things be a little bit rougher.
Anna Shoemaker: I think that that’s the thing. I think it’s a scrappiness to it that I really, really like. And I think that that’s a lot of these songs we had to really work to get to where they are. So I think that is probably what you’re hearing the kind of… This kind of building up the pavement like okay. And also letting things be as they are.
It's relatively easy to make something, I think, sound very “pristine” and “perfect.” I think it's actually harder to do what you've done here, which is kind of channel that grit and...
Anna Shoemaker: Thanks. I really… I agree. I really appreciate you saying that. I’m feeling very seen now.
My music is the most important thing to me, and that is my personal life. Writing songs is the most important thing in my life. It’s my most important relationship.
Listen, we've all been in recording studios here. We know what it's like to overproduce something with the technology that we have these days. So ‘under’-producing, or whatever the heck we call this, getting it just right, ‘Goldilocks’-style, is a much harder task, especially when there are so many impulses to add and add and add, and you really subtract. You talked about “Wishful Thinking” being this cathartic finale for you from a musical and album perspective. In addition to that one, do you have any other favorite songs or favorite memories in terms of making this record?
Anna Shoemaker: Writing this record was so fun because I get to work with Constantine, who’s one of my best friends, and we have so much fun writing together. It feels like it should be illegal. We really had a lot of fun. And I think we had a lot of fun writing “Gas Station Parking Lot” too because it’s so winding and weird and the verses are really long. And I remember in the second verse, it just keeps going. And I was like, I’m so obsessed with pop music. I was like, the second verse can’t be this long. We have to get to the chorus. And he’s like, no, no, just trust me. Trust me. And now I’ve been playing that song live, and it so fun to be in that second verse and play it live. It’s a really, really… That’s a really fun one. I really liked writing that, and I think… I’m trying to think “Horse Girl” too. I mean, a lot of them… “Horse Girl,” we ended up rewriting in Nashville, so that one felt really good to finally crack the code. It went through so many versions.
“Fields” is one of my favorites. And we had started that the night before we left for Nashville, and we were… We couldn’t figure it out. We couldn’t finish it. And I was so sad because I loved it so much, and I was so sad. And in between recording, I’d be sitting there with my phone trying to figure it out. And I remember there’s a voice memo where I finally figure it out, and the guys are in the back, moving a bunch of amps. And you just hear me being like, do you guys need help? But it was the kind of like, do you guys need help? Where it was like, if they said yes, I was never going to help them. They’re like, no, no, we’re good. I just kind of sang through the melody, and I finally got it. And I think “Fields” was the last one we were able to finally just finish. And it was cool to write one down there, but honestly, writing the whole thing was so fun. Constantine is just the best. He’s so funny.
When did you know this album was done?
Anna Shoemaker: I think when we left Nashville, we were terrified because we had still so much work to do. And I kind of had envisioned leaving Nashville being like, yep, we got an album. But it was like, we had a lot of stuff to still go through. But I will say, driving back from Nashville and listening to what we had from top to bottom, I was like, okay, we actually do have something. This is an album. We don’t have to… We don’t have to re-record any of these. These are… This is an album. And then obviously, when we got the masters back, a couple months later, we were just like, whoa, okay, this is really, really exciting. And you can kind of start to visualize the music videos and stuff. But I think driving back from Nashville, I was like, okay, cool. This is… We’re good. We’re good.
Do you have any favorite lyrics that stand out on this record that you hope really hit home once people hear the full album?
Anna Shoemaker: I think in “Horse Girl,” the chorus is like, “but tonight I’ll be fine because I’ll always be when you try to destroy me,” which I think is just another one of those manifesting moments where I’m like… I don’t know if I believe that, and it’s probably not true. If someone is destroying me, I will be destroyed. But you won’t know and you’ll never see it, and you’ll never get that power. I think that that’s a really… That’s one of the things that I got, that I’m like, okay, with the first album, it was like, if someone was destroying me, I was gonna light all their clothes on fire and maybe their apartment and scream and all my friends and freak out and go out and be crazy. And I think now I’m at this point in my life where I’m like, if you hurt me, you won’t even know because I will be… I’m out. It’s gone. I don’t… That’s insane. So I think that with “Horse Girl,” that’s kind of that in that song, “Horse Girl” is kind of just letting things go, not trying to control everything. I think that’s a big “Horse Girl” energy.
I can deeply relate to the changing from being reactionary in our 20s, to accepting people the way they are.
Anna Shoemaker: Exactly.
Cut and run. Life is short. Surround yourself with the people you care about, who care about you. Make it reciprocal and have those relationships, and accept those who cannot change without letting them in and ruin your good time.
Anna Shoemaker: Absolutely. Well, because also you want people to accept you for who you are. So that’s the truth. Then you need to accept people for who they are, for better or for worse.
If we zoom out a little bit, can you describe this album in three words?
Anna Shoemaker: That’s a good question. I would say that’s a really good question. It would have to do with choosing yourself… But I think it’s also, obviously, I think it’s breakup and run. Those three words, just “breakup and go.” That’s kind of how we saw it, and it’s the contemplating of a breakup. There’s not as much back and forth in this album. It’s just kind of like, “it’s over, and now I’m thinking about it in the past.” I’m not as much in it, so I feel it would be ‘breakup and run.’
I kind of asked you this question earlier. Do you feel like with this album, you were able to close the door on that breakup and move on in your life and everything else that came with it?
Anna Shoemaker: Yeah, I really do think so. I think I’m really proud of where I’ve gotten myself and I think I used to deal… Yeah. I think so. I know so.
You have to be your own best friend and you have to be so sure in your decisions, and you have to learn how to validate and self-soothe.
Can you share a little bit more about the title, Someone Should Stop Her? What inspired the album's name?
Anna Shoemaker: So that’s a line in Game of Thrones, and it’s during the bridge where I’m just like, I’m talking about my family and I think that Someone Should Stop Her, is this kind of… I don’t know when I was… When you’re going… When you’re deciding to break up with someone, when you’re deciding anything, really, any big life change, I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of looking around and I’m like, is anyone gonna say, don’t do that? Or is anyone gonna be like, yeah, go for it, do it.
You have to be your own best friend and you have to be so sure in your decisions, and you have to learn how to validate and self soothe, yourself, because there was so long that I was trying to look around like, is this what I should do? Is this where I should go? Am I okay? Is anyone gonna tell me, ‘stop!’ – and I think that, in the song, it says like, “I blacked out of the family reunion and told everyone that I was writing a novel. And in the morning, I heard everyone talking about me, and they were saying,’someone should stop her from doing that.’“
That’s kind of this fantasy that I would go downstairs and hear my family being like, “someone should stop her from doing that.” So I would know to stop from doing that. But no one’s gonna do that, you have to know whether or not something’s right. No one was like, “you should stop.” But it’s so nice too, because my family, I’m really close with my family, but we’re very all independent. And my parents would never really be like, you’re doing the right thing, kind of in a good way, because it’s like, I think after the fact now I know that they thought it was cool, but it also doesn’t really matter. You have to live with your own decisions. It doesn’t really matter what they think or what other people think.
The grander scheme of this album is learning to seek validation from within, rather than externally…
Anna Shoemaker: You just hit the nail on the freaking head.
…which kind of goes hand in hand with a breakup, right? Accepting that ‘this is not going to be our forever person,’ which we have to come to our own conclusions about, because love is a two way street.
Anna Shoemaker: Yeah, it’s so true. It’s so true.
What do you hope listeners take away from Someone Should Stop Her, and what have you taken from creating this album and now putting it out?
Anna Shoemaker: I think I’ve just grown so much, and I’ve learned so much about not only just, songwriting, but just about production. And I feel like I’ve really been so hands on with every single part of this process. And it’s been so great working with Constantine because he doesn’t get tired of explaining things, and he really lets me ask as many any questions, and I feel empowered to know what’s going on. So I feel like I’ve grown so much as an artist, and I hope that people can, from this album… Like we were saying, I hope that they see that you should get validation from yourself. And I hope that if someone’s going through a breakup, it can maybe help them, because I know that I listen to tons of breakup music. I really went through that Gracie Abrams, and I really go through that Taylor Swift and Cheryl Crow and all the girls, so it’s just another… I guess, it’s just my story. Everyone kind of has their own story, but this, for me, is just mine. And if anyone needs that, I’ve needed other people, then they can have that.
There's many types of breakup songs, but I think the two main categories are high road, “I'm moving on,” and/or down in the dumps, crying my eyes out. What do you gravitate toward?
Anna Shoemaker: I’m crying my eyes out. I’m crying to Gracie Abrams free now. I like a f* you, I’m moving on, but it’s like, I’m so sad, but I’m moving on. I used to when I was younger with my first album. There’s so many f* you, I’m moving on, and I don’t even care about you. And I think it’s so interesting. That was not true. I was totally on this whole thing, and I was trying to pretend to be this person, which I think is cool, and it makes sense to want to be this tough girl. But I think there might be more power in admitting vulnerability and being a little more insular with how… Just kind of being a little more patient. I think the name of the game with a lot of this stuff was just patience.
What’s your favorite breakup song or breakup album outside of your own?
Anna Shoemaker: I think I was actually just thinking about this. Wait, let’s see. I think favorite breakup album. Control by Sza. That album, that is just crazy. And when she says, you came with your new friend and her new… And her mom jeans and her new vans like, I will die. That to me, when I heard that line, I was like, I’ve never related to something more like, your ex showing up with someone in the perfect pair of Levi’s jeans and new vans, and you’re just like, am I gonna pass away? What is happening right now? I think that that whole album, I love.
Who are you listening to these days that you would recommend to our readers?
Anna Shoemaker: Oh my gosh, I cannot stop listening to this girl, Camille Schmidt. And she’s in New York and I’m obsessed and sick and obsessed. She’s really good. And then there’s this band in… There’s this guy in LA called Deloyd Elze. So I’d say Camille Schmidt and Deloyd Elze are to artists that I’m like, they’re just incredible. His music is amazing.
I’ll also say one of my really good friends in LA who also just moved to LA from New York, Tor Miller!
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