Blythe Woods says she is “on the cusp.” She’s answering a question about what grade she’ll enter in the fall, but it’s an apt description of her musical life, too. After releasing two singles this summer, today she announces the upcoming release of her debut album, “Loser’s Guide To Life,” putting Woods squarely on the cusp of a career that involves music videos, interviews and all of the things a performer must do to get the word out.
It might seem like an overnight emergence, until you learn about the work Woods has put in. Yes, her first public performance was just last summer (opening for Yacht Rock Revue at her school), and the two grades she could enter in the fall are eighth or ninth. But do not mistake youth for inexperience: Woods has been writing one song a day for years, and the two that have been released in advance of the album – the title track and “Rowan Wait Up” – are sophisticated, layered bedroom pop with mature lyrics to match.
The album, which will be released January 15, was produced by Alex Casnoff (Dawes, Harriet) and features Gabe Goodman on guitar and bass (Maggie Rogers, Del Water Gap) and Sam Kauffman-Skloff on drums (Role Model, Ryan Beatty, Lizzy McAlpine).
On the occasion of her album announcement and the release of the video for “Rowan Wait Up,” we chatted with Woods via Zoom last week. Here are some highlights from our conversation.
What is going through your mind as you are announcing your debut album?
Well, I’m so shocked that this is even happening. I feel like it’s just been such a long road of working on this music, and I’m so excited to share it because it’s so special to me.
What inspired you to write “Rowan Wait Up?”
I had a sort of loss of connection, like a little bit of a rocky relationship and sort of friendship that kind of broke off, and it just made me realize that my music will always be there for me in times like that. I can always sit down and write about it. I’m really glad that it is resonating with people who have been through similar things. But losing somebody in any sense in like a relationship or friendship is very hard, and it was really, really useful for me to write it.
What inspired you to write the song “Lose’s Guide to Life?”
“Loser’s Guide to Life” is inspired by feeling like such a loser and just feeling embarrassed, like normal teenager stuff. But the thing that’s so interesting about that song is I didn’t even realize that I needed it. It’s so weird to go from the studio and making music to a normal high school. I am also in and out of being homeschooled, so sometimes not always in high school, but when I am, it’s really funny because I am a huge, weird kid. I’m very much a loser.
You write a song a day. How do you sort through them and decide which ones to record?
I think, especially when you’re making a record, I feel like visually you can see what would fit. I feel like there are some songs that — I obviously love all of them because I feel like there’s this energy in all of them that is my emotions and I feel like choosing them is hard, It’s like having your favorite children. But I feel like the ones that I’ve picked are really a solid bunch of songs and I’ve like spent time perfecting them and I really feel good about them.
Did you grow up in a musical family?
I grew up around very creative people, like my entire family. They’re all in the creative world, like my brother is; he went to college for visual art, but he is a musician as well, and he showed me all that I really know about music and guitar. And I love him so much. And my mom also creates music for her job. She’s like a choreographer and she makes amazing videos with workouts and stuff like that [Editor’s note: Woods’ mother is Tracy Anderson, the fitness author and entrepreneur]. And my grandma also has owned a dance studio and a musical theater studio for my entire existence and my mom’s entire existence. So it’s just really special to like, hear the show tunes and then the classic rock and then the pop princesses, and I got all different genres.
What are your go-to albums for repeat listens?
I have like five albums that I listen to on repeat, and the first one is “Masterpiece” by Big Thief. It is a masterpiece, it is one of the most amazing albums. And then “Born to Die” by Lana Del Rey is also one of my favorites, and “Tapestry” by Carole King, of course. Somebody I’ve been listening to a lot recently is Blondshell, too, so I really like her album. And then I love Pat Benatar “In the Heat of the Night.” Honestly, I just love so much music, it’s so hard for me to choose, but, yeah, “Jagged Little Pill” [by Alanis Morissette].
Earlier you said “Loser’s Guide To Life” is a song you didn’t know you needed to write and you learned that your music will always be there for you. So is writing a song a day a therapeutic exercise?
It’s definitely very therapeutic. It’s like a ritual of mine every day. Sometimes when I feel stuck or I’m stressed out or whatever, my family’s like, “have you made art today?” And if I’m like, “no,” they’re like, “that’s why, you really like art.” When I was younger and I was throwing a tantrum, my mother would turn on “The Nutcracker” and just ask me to dance. And she’s like, “I don’t care if it looks bad. You just move like how you feel.” I was always raised like that.
What do you hope people feel when they hear your album early next year?
I just hope that they feel seen in a lot of ways, because I feel like “Loser’s Guide to Life” is very adolescence and coming-of-age and dealing with so many emotions and so many things that are complex, and I think that it’s so important for there to be an album out there that represents just confusing feelings.
We’re in the mixing process right now, so I’ve been getting sent all of these mixes of these songs, and honestly, I’m somebody who will get sick of my own voice. But with this album, something really special happened and the people I worked with. I get good vibes from all the songs and I want to listen to them a million times. There’s not like one song on this album that I’m like, “oh my God, I don’t like the way I sound here.” I’m really grateful to have made an album that has such good vibes to me and I really like it.
Photo by Ella Gillespie Bailey
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