Singer Anna Thoresen On Her New Single: “Party Girl’s Lament”

Meet Anna Thoresen: she’s a 20 year old singer, songwriter and producer from New York. She released her first single, “I Think This Is Love?” earlier this year and is currently working on her first ever EP. Anna is known for her dreamy, R&B sound, and her newest song, “Party Girl’s Lament”, keeps this same vibe, but focuses on a more personal and serious topic. In her new song, Anna reflects on her experiences in high school with alcohol and substance addiction. She takes listeners on a journey through a party with a girl who doesn’t want to be at the party, doesn’t want to keep using substances, but feels as though she doesn’t “...know how to say no.”

We sat down with Anna to talk about her writing process, her reflections on her past with addiction, and her upcoming EP.

So, Anna, tell us about your new single, “Party Girl’s Lament”?

It's about a girl who is struggling with alcohol and substance abuse. She’s trying to run from her problems at a party, and she can't. And that follows her through not only parties, but also in life.

What was your process for writing this song?

The instrumental part is just one guitar loop. A friend of mine sent me the guitar loop, and it was set in stone from there. I loved it, and I was like “Great, let's do something with this.” And I started to mess around with the lyrics. I had all these different lines from different poems, or writing. And there was one line that I really liked, it was the first line actually. “Just took a few hits of some random dude’s spliff.” I thought I kinda wanted to do something with that. And then I pulled from other songs I had, and it turned out to be this.

You repeat the line “I don’t know how to say no” in “Party Girl’s Lament”. Why did you feel that line was so important for the song?

I think it's so simple, but at the same time, there's so much to unpack with it. With this song, it means so many different things. And I kind of want to leave it up to the listener to find what their interpretation of it might be. It's hard to describe it. For me, when I was going through a lot of this stuff, that was kind of my main theme throughout it all. I didn't know how to say no to whatever was coming my way. And I don't like to say, “Oh, it was my fault,” because I was in a bad place. That’s not really fair to victim blame. It's a negative mantra, but that was kind of my mantra throughout. Like, “Damn, if I just knew how to say no, then I wouldn't have been in this situation, or I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't have done this. I wouldn't have done that.”

Does writing a song about addiction help with healing or reflecting in any way? 

For sure. It's very important to me, and I feel like it's important to be vulnerable and honest in your music. I feel like it's hard to make good music if you're not being honest. I feel like all the best artists have that in common. So one hundred percent, it definitely helped me with my healing. You know, it's a slow process. But I definitely am in a place now where I can write about it, and I can look at it from a place of objectivity. I can look at it and be like, “Okay, that's  not really who I am anymore, and I feel a lot of empathy for her, and I feel sorry for her.” I think it's a great reflection for me.

You also produced the song yourself. What was that like?

The first song I ever produced was my first single, “I Think This Is Love?”. That was the first beat I'd ever made, the first real song I'd ever like actually written. So this time around was a lot easier than my first song. My first song had a lot of layered harmonies and a lot of little details in the production, so it took a lot longer. But with this one, I was lucky because, like I said earlier, my friend sent me the guitar loop. It's just the vocals on the guitar, and it was a lot easier to edit it. I love producing, it’s really fun!

So you have an EP coming up. Tell us a little bit about what we can expect!

You can expect stuff that's similar to what I already have out, “I Think This Is Love?” and “Party Girl’s Lament”. You can expect a pop, R&B, bedroom pop kind of vibe. More chill, probably more slow. Not too sad, I’m trying not to make too many sad songs. 

Did you have any inspirations for the EP?

For sure. Recently I’ve been listening to a lot more of Lauryn Hill, Amy Winehouse, a lot of jazz and R&B. Not really so much mainstream pop. Also, I might have some ukulele in there, because I play the ukulele and the drums. So I might have just me and the ukulele. It’s a work in progress, so we’ll see.

Can you give any hints on when the EP might be out?

Yes. It's going to be in the winter, toward the end of the year. Very soon, so I'm excited. Nervous, but excited.

You can listen to "Party Girl's Lament" and Anna's first single, “I Think This Is Love?” on Spotify. Follow her on Instagram and keep an eye for her EP!

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