After a prolonged album cycle following her debut album, Everything Is Fine (I’m Only On Fire), Anna Shoemaker just dropped off its long-awaited follow-up Someone Should Stop Her. A spree of single releases teased what fans could expect on this new effort, but now in full, here’s a breakdown of what she executes with this second LP.
New Material In The Spotlight For Anna Shoemaker On Someone Should Stop Her
In total, about half of the runtime for Someone Should Stop Her includes previously released Anna Shoemaker singles. Of course, this isn’t a bad thing for those who are checking into the singer-songwriter’s catalog for the first time. But especially for us at Music Daily, tracking the singer’s moves step-for-step over that span, it shifts the focus onto the brand-new material here.
“Not Your Baby” goes a long way in illustrating the complex feelings that light the way for Anna Shoemaker on Someone Should Stop Her, an ode to undefined relationships and being on auto-pilot despite misgivings about them. Most of the album’s material spends time in these sorts of hazy, unforgiving situations (she explores a particularly stirring one just one song later,on “Back Again,” a piece we’ve cited as a favorite in our original coverage.) Though most of these scattered instances leave off in uncertain terms at the end of each song, it feels like that’s the whole point: genuine reflections and unfiltered thoughts rather than neat narratives.
Moments Of Punk-Style Experimentation
“Miniskirt,” towards the end of the record, is built on punchy drum lines and some punk-flavored electric guitar, some notable payoff and development for those who have been with us in following the Anna Shoemaker project for some time. Its central dialogue is also super stirring, drumming up the paradoxical picture of “running circles in a miniskirt.” Yet for that more whimsical, wistful lyric, Anna Shoemaker makes sure to include lucid commentary alongside, vowing that “everybody always wants to fall in love ’til they learn what it is.” The genre development and those contrasting thoughts easily spotlights this as the highlight of the new material.
To revisit those aforementioned singles, some still deliver the record’s biggest highlights. The hook on “Close To The Sun” being so closely mapped to the guitar lines underneath is absolutely one, among the more intriguing and unexpected melodic instances on the whole LP. The cozy yet uncanny vibe of “Iced Coffee” marks another, Shoemaker’s quieted vocals paying off well with the classic pop “ooh-ooh” harmonies at the bridge. Additionally, her talents for evocative imagery, split between “iced coffee,” “cigarettes,” “a new truck,” and “spending [it] all on Jesus” really shine here, one of the more vivid pieces included here.
And A Shift Towards Folk For Anna Shoemaker On Someone Should Stop Her
Speaking of that lyrical quality, “Game Of Thrones” gives birth to many of them, not least of which is getting the album’s title over a bed of thrashing guitars in the song’s close. Deriving the name from the track feels particularly fitting with how closely its mission statement aligns with the project as a whole: Shoemaker delving into these scattered vignettes of insecurity, paranoia, and patently unideal social situations. You come for those and truly stay for lines like “all I think about is Jacob Elordi,” attention-grabbing in how far they stick out from the deep themes explored throughout the but brutally and refreshingly honest all the same.
Another development here is the slight dip away from your typical singer-songwriter aesthetics. Anna Shoemaker makes a subtle but marked shift on Someone Should Stop Her into a folk/American aspect. Jangling guitars that carry that atmosphere crop up on the opener, “Real Life,” and the closer, “Wishful Thinking,” a structural detail that feels knowing in driving this home.
Plenty of Tangible Attention-Grabbers And Much More Promise
Yet “Gas Station Parking Lot” presents the truest embrace. The pointed guitar feedback and Shoemaker’s (relatively) chipper delivery on top of it imbue the song with an authentic sing-songy atmosphere, another moment where contrast comes heavily into play. The lyrics are equally biting when calling out the unnamed partner on the song and chilling in self-reference: “It’s either quitting you or having a kid and I can’t do that.” The sheer divergence between these two competing characteristics makes the end product a whole lot deeper, and one of the songs here that demands repeat listens as a result.
If it wasn’t abundantly clear by now, even if some of what Anna Shoemaker serves up on Someone Should Stop Her isn’t what you’ll throw on with the top down, you’ll be hard-pressed to come across a project more cohesively executed in the more somber side of indie pop. Though this record is an achievement in and of itself, the raw emotions and evolving songwriting capabilities she shows off on this sophomore record make it seem like a smart bet to project bigger and better in the future. Catch the album now wherever you stream your music.
