Indie-pop songwriter Anna Smyrk has lived a life between places, spending time in Cambodia, the Solomon Islands, Belgium, Australia and the Philippines.
She was most recently working as a consultant for the World Health Organization, so after recently returning to Australia following a stint working in PNG assisting with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Anna today releases her new EP, The Hour Between Us.
Long-distance love is a recurring theme on the EP, with ‘Daylight Saving’, ‘You Break It You Bought It’ and ‘Song from the 36th Floor’ all dealing with separation and connection across time and space. First lifted single, ‘Human Condition’ is a frustrated commentary on a disjointed society, while ‘The Excavator’ explores the distance caused by grief. EP closer ‘Wallace Street’ rounds out the offering with a heart-warming story about finding love within the crumbling walls of a Melbourne sharehouse.
The Hour Between Us serves a hefty dose of world-travelling vicariousness that we’ve all been craving in recent times and is destined to cure even the most stubborn cases of cabin fever. Get ready to be transported.
Human Condition
Melbourne, Australia. A song about disconnection.
September 2020, mid-lockdown. This song was sparked by staying at home ALL THE TIME but it’s about something bigger- the loneliness that pervades our lives because our world is built to prioritise individual success and competition, instead of connection and community. I was listening to a lot of Middle Kids and Lucy Dacus when I wrote this.
You Break it, You Bought It
Manila, Philippines. A song about choice.
In 2019, I was moving around all the time. I finished a job in the Solomon Islands, went to the UK for a tour, came back to Melbourne for two weeks then travelled to Manila to work for three months. It was amazing but it meant a lot of time away from my partner and each time I left, I questioned my choices and priorities. I was comparing my life to my partner’s grandmother, who had 6 kids by the time she was my age.
The Excavator
Louvain la Neuve, Belgium. A song about grief.
Watching someone you love go through grief is incredibly hard. It’s like they’re stuck in this underground, airless place where you can’t reach them. Recording this track felt like a release. We wanted to capture the different faces of grief. Sometimes it’s dark and brooding, like the song’s verses, and sometimes it just explodes out of nowhere and completely floors you, which is what we tried to do with those huge choruses.
Song From the 36th Floor
Manila, Philippines. A sad song about long-distance love.
I was living in a tiny studio on the top floor of a gigantic apartment building. The apartment building was on top of a shopping mall, and the shopping mall was surrounded on four sides by 24-hour traffic jams. It felt pretty stifling, so I spent a lot of time walking around the city, thinking about home. Phoebe Bridges was a big influence for this one.
Daylight Saving
Manila, Philippines. A happy song about long-distance love.
I’m not a big fan of talking on the phone, but being away all the time means the phone is all you’ve got. When daylight savings started back home, there was an even bigger time difference to manage and the distance was feeling huge. There are some notes of Andrew Bird in this one, I was obsessed with his record ‘My Finest Work Yet’ around the time I was writing this.
(Side-note: I highly recommend a nude swim at Cooper’s Creek in Gippsland.)
Wallace Street
West Brunswick, Australia. A share house love song.
It was the kind of share house where people were coming and going all the time. Veggie garden, chickens out the back, lots of house parties, walls that leaked, always someone crashing on the couch. Freezing in winter, sweltering in summer. One time I woke up in the middle of the night because a huge chunk of plaster from the wall landed on my pillow next to my head. It was disorganised and frustrating and messy, and the most fun I’ve ever had.
Check out everything Anna Smyrk at her website here.
