Anna Shoemaker Takes Indie-Pop by Storm with “Everything is Fine”
BY OLIVIA LEON
Indie-pop artist Anna Shoemaker has just announced her debut album Everything is Fine (I'm Only on Fire). Set to release on March 2, the album is on track to break down the boundaries of indie-pop.
ANNA SHOEMAKER
Photo Credit: Josefine Cardoni
Her latest single, “Everything is Fine,” serves as the album’s title track, offering us a glimpse of what’s to come. From the punchy guitar to the catchy, yet introspective lyricism, the single sets the tone for her debut album. It's powerful and high energy, and draws listeners in from the very beginning. Taking a deep dive into her emotions, the artist creates a song that reaches out to very feelings many of us relate to at our core.
“Everything is fine, I’m only on fire / Everything is fine, I’m only a liar / I don’t really care much / They say I should grow up / I don’t really give a fuck / Everything is fine / Don’t look at the fire””
Shoemaker delves into this sense of overwhelm and pressure the world puts on you as a young adult. There’s this constant pressure to adhere to what ‘you’re supposed to do,’ to what everyone else tells you to do— to grow up. The artist creates this intentional back-and-forth between this feeling of freedom— ignoring it all and just living, and this increasing awareness of being on fire. Her lyrics drive this idea, developing the perfect juxtaposition of not wanting to care about the stress of the world around you and these constant pressures, while simultaneously bearing the brunt of it — saying “everything is fine,” but feeling like you’re on fire.
Turning pure emotion into visuals, the music video directed by Josefine Cardoni takes an honest and close up approach, expressing every line in its entirety and with a vividity that takes you along for the ride. As the video closes out the final scene, with the fire finally being set, Shoemaker concludes the song with a quiet repetition of the title. It draws out an almost serene realization of this spiraling cycle the artist experiences and leaves listeners with a sense of understanding and feeling heard.
