On My Woman, there are a lot of lyrics about wanting—you’re often demanding things, or giving instructions to the person who’s being addressed. The single “Shut Up Kiss Me” is probably the clearest example.

I have a lot of wants!

It seems like they boil down on the record, mostly, to love.

It addresses love in all different forms. It’s not always romantic—it’s about wanting to break down a connection. It’s a continued theme, if I look at older records. But much more than before, I’m focusing less on isolation.

What were you trying to express that you hadn’t before?

If you only paid attention to the title of the record, [My Woman], you’re gonna hear that it’s about women. But it’s not, necessarily, that it’s about the titles — it’s what these words convey to me. And the power of [putting] two words together, or [using] one word as a title. I’m addressing a lot of stuff that I’ve addressed before, but I feel like I can insert my personality a little bit more.

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Is that what inspired you to direct and star in your own videos?

When this record was finished, the label was like, “So, do you plan on making videos? We have a list of people that we really love that we’ve worked with.” I looked at everything, and I was like, These people are all really talented, but what I keep finding to be problematic is that it’s just not relevant to my vision at all. I don’t want to be bitter at someone who’s just trying to make something beautiful. I should just do it myself.

The one thing people are asking me, over and over about both videos, in this pointed way, is, “Are you trying to create a character because you’re afraid of being yourself? What does the wig mean?” I love David Bowie, and I love glam rock, and I rollerskate a lot. I don’t feel like doing my hair — I don’t have a stylist — so I’m going to put a wig on my head. Maybe I’ve trapped myself by writing sincerely and writing words and putting a lot of intention behind my songs. People are afraid to realize or accept that I could have a sense of humor, or just want to have fun, or do something without wanting to put a bunch of meaning into it. In this way, I’ve trapped myself into being this person that has to feel responsible for my sincerity — or for the projected idea of my sincerity.

How does processing people’s responses to what you’ve made, whether in your music or videos, impact your feelings about your work?

I do want to connect with people, yet it is that balancing act of, “I’m not going to give you what you want all the time.” I know what works for me and what doesn’t, and if I push myself, it might be more worth it to me, and less boring, than using the same format over and over just because people like that. They like it when you’re a folk musician, when you sing country songs, and you play solo. They want you to stay that way. The first information that you had about that artist is the way that you remember them — I can’t be bummin’ on people for having an access point.

People might not want to go to side B, ever! But side B is where it’s at for me and my band — it’s where we get to be normal, and ourselves; that’s where we get to show people that I’ve changed and grown. Side A is where I show people, This is what I do, and what I’ve done well. These are new spins on the songs and styles I’ve written in the past. Then you go to side B, and that’s all changed. I don’t know if it’s going to be easy for people to digest.