NEW VIDEO: Anna Smyrk 'The Runner' + EP Announcement

Anna Smyrk announces ‘Cortisol and Blue Light’ EP + releases a playful visual for ‘The Runner’ + launch show at The Workers Club and German tour

“There is almost a shoegaze wall of sound to the instrumentation while Smyrk’s vocals have a contrasting softness that shines through the mix. The result has all the trademark elements of Smyrk’s craft: a thunderous instrumentation and a powerful delivery with a poetic lyricism that shines brightly.” - Arun Kendall, Backseat Mafia

“The track is filled with lush instrumentation, from the driving drumbeat and pulsing bassline to the shimmering guitar riffs and vibrant synths. The different elements come together to create a full, dynamic sound that perfectly complements Anna’s soaring vocals.” - Independent Music Review

After kicking off 2023 with two singles and festival performances across Victoria, Anna Smyrk is lifting the veil on a playful video for her latest single ‘The Runner’. This visual accompanies the announcement of Anna’s upcoming EP ‘Cortisol and Blue Light’, out via MGM on Thursday 27 April. Recorded in Nashville with award-winning producers Jake Finch and Collin Pastore (Lucy Dacus), this EP is set to be celebrated in style by Anna and her all star-band of Alex Burkoy (Tinpan Orange), Holly Thomas (Quivers, Husky, Freya Josephine Hollick) and Loz Irwin Ray (Belly Savalas) will grace the stage at Workers Club on Friday 28 April.

Created by cinematographer Nayomi Pattuwage at Heaps Stoked Productions, this clip is a fun personification of Anna’s fiery lyrics through the story of an escapologist - "We played with the concept of constriction and the art of escape; Anna became our representation of Houdini's Vanishing Elephant. She was up for anything during filming and really trusted the process, considering that we tied her to a chair the second she walked on set!" - Nayomi Pattuwage. Capturing the excitement of the collaborative single, "This video was super fun to make. A lot of thought went into the planning, but on the day of the shoot, we really gave ourselves permission not to take it all too seriously. The song is kind of cheeky and we wanted to capture that vibe. There were so many takes we had to cut because one or all of us cracked up” - says Anna.

Out Thursday 27 April via MGM and recorded between Nashville and Melbourne with Jake Finch and Collin Pastore, Cortisol and Blue Light is “a collection of songs about fight or flight, the feeling of being pushed and pulled at the same time” - Anna Smyrk. The material dives head first into all sides of a relationship; the trials and triumphs, with the first two singles ‘I Don’t Want to Meet Your Mother’ and ‘The Runner’, exploring the flight and self-sabotage we experience when our emotions start to feel too real. The collection journeys through “the paradox of pushing yourself towards the thing you want, only to find that when you get it, you just start longing for something else” with ‘Arrived’ and closes with ‘Live Slow, Die Old’, a track about taking in the small moments and slowing down, the antidote to all the push and pull.
 
“I loved working with Jake and Collin in Nashville so we connected again when I had new songs to record for the EP. It was wild to be recording across continents and time zones. I’d get up really early and jump on Zoom in my apartment in Brunswick, and they would be online in the evening from their studio in Nashville. I didn’t know if I’d like doing it that way, but it felt good. I liked being in my own space, sending tracks back and forth and listening to what was going on in the studio in real time.”- Anna Smyrk

Join this indie bombshell and dance to her deep and meaningful thoughts this Friday 28 April with Anna Smyrk’s launch show at The Workers Club with her live band.

 'The Runner’ is out now
Cortisol and Blue Light out Thursday 27 April
Via MGM and Bandcamp

Cortisol and Blue Light Track Listing

1. I Don’t Want to Meet Your Mother

2. Arrived

3. The Runner

4. Live Slow, Die Old
 

'The Runner’ Music Video Credits:
Video by Heaps Stoked Productions
Cinematographer: Nayomi Pattuwage
Production Assistant: Max Wilson

Cortisol and Blue Light Credits:
Written by Anna Smyrk
Produced by Jake Finch and Collin Pastore
Mastered by Preston Cochrane
Cover photo by Jeff Anderson Jr
Cover design by Anton Perez

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Saturday 1 April
Supporting Birds of Tokyo
Sip & Savour Lake Macquarie
Speers Point, Lake Macquarie NSW
Tickets

Friday 28 April
Workers Club, Melbourne
8:30pm
Tickets

Friday 5 May
 Ipswich Civic Centre, Ipswich QLD
8pm
Tickets

German Tour - May - June 2023
Friday 19 May - Volksbad, Madgeburg
Saturday 20 May - Savoy, Bordesholm
Monday 22 May - Tonfink, Lübeck
Tuesday 23 May - Kaufbar, Braunschweig
Wednesday 24 May - nFilou, Steinhude
Thursday 25 May - Deichdiele, Hamburg
Friday 26 May - Lagerhalle, Osnabrück
Saturday 27 May - Jazz Lev, Leverkusen
Tuesday 30 May - Alte Utting, Munich
Wednesday 31 May - Alte Brauerei, Annaberg
Thursday 1 June - Mora Bar, Dresden
Friday 2 June - Bahnhof Open Air, Kötzting
Saturday 3 June - Hafen 2, Offenbach
Sunday 4 June - Haus Am See, Nuremberg
Monday 5 June - Live Club, Bamberg