It's ten in the morning, and Paula Cole's "I Don't Wanna Wait" rings from the punchy speakers of a young Anna McClellan's living room TV. It's the summer of 2004, and Anna's parents have signed up for basic cable—a lifeline for a kid left to her own devices while her parents were at work. For McClellan, shows like Dawson's Creek, The O.C., and Friends were not just entertainment but friends and mentors, shaping her understanding of relationships and life. These long summers spent in front of the TV cemented a love of narrative that would later reveal itself through songwriting. By seventeen, Anna McClellan was performing original songs in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Her debut album, Fire Flames, garnered attention and earned her an opening slot on a Frankie Cosmos tour, setting the stage for her subsequently adored albums, 2018’s Yes and No and I saw first light, released in late 2020.
Now, with her forthcoming fourth album Electric Bouquet, out October 25, 2024 via Father/Daughter Records, McClellan crafts a musical journey that unfolds like one of her cherished television series. Each track is an episode, chronicling the past four years of her life – navigating a career change, a cross-country move, and relationships gone sour. Electric Bouquet is a narrative tour de force showcasing McClellan's remarkable ability to transform life's myriad of messy experiences into captivating musical stories. While writing the album, Anna attended trade school, apprenticing to become an electrician to escape the service industry grind and secure a foundational career alongside music. Eager to break free from Omaha, she decided to take her newfound electrical skills to pursue a career in the film industry in Los Angeles, CA where she’s now based.
Recorded in multiple sessions in Baltimore, MD and Omaha, Electric Bouquet shifts seamlessly between piano-driven melodies and guitar-anchored anthems, each song a miniature universe slowly opening unto itself. “You are capturing moments. Playing is one thing, but embodying an experience is what makes musical recordings truly special and craveable,” Anna explains. Harnessing the electricity within the studio wasn’t always a breeze however. "The first session for ‘Paper Alley’ and ‘I'm Lyin’ was recorded in the hottest practice studio in Baltimore on the hottest day of June,” She describes, "The room was hot. Hot with air and hot with my feelings."
This intensity is clear in “Like a Painting,” a proggy, piano-led track written in chunks over the course of a brief yet intensely passionate relationship with a fellow musician. “It lays the whole thing out in a way I didn’t understand until after it was over,” she describes. Chronicling the tumultuous relationship with her then-boyfriend, who lends his guitar skills to the song, “Paper Alley” feels like a raw journal entry set to music. Recorded amid growing tension, the tune crackles with palpable strain. “At its best, loving him inspired me and turned me on to myself and to the entire world. That’s what a good muse does, right?”
Co-produced with long-time collaborator Ryan McKeever and Another Recording Company Studios engineer Adam Roberts, Electric Bouquet blooms as an arrangement of sound. McClellan was surrounded by an array of instruments—vibraphone, organ, and french horn, as well as everyday items—a park bench turned percussion instrument on the standout “Co-Stars,” each one a character waiting to be brought to life.
The album’s opener "Jam the Phones” channels the spirit of Jon Brion, its haunting melody underscores a message of both individual and collective resilience. Written against the backdrop of social unrest, it serves as a rallying cry, evoking a world where vulnerability is rebellion and intimacy defiance: "In every song I write, I aim to be personally, introspectively inquisitive while also keeping in mind the backdrop and context of the world at large," she shares.
Further drawing inspiration from her love of narratives and the dramatic flair of television, McClellan initially toyed with the idea of crafting a musical. While "Endlessly" was originally conceived as the opening number for this imaginary production, it found its rightful place within Electric Bouquet, serving as a loving reminder that it's okay not to be okay—a solace and solidarity often forgotten.
At the heart of the album lies "Hold You Close," an intimate track born from a night of longing during the holiday season. It is a tribute to absent friends and the ache of separation, written in one sitting from the comforts of her hometown bed. This tender ballad speaks to loving people where they are, both geographically and metaphorically. Inspired to craft the antithesis of Waylon Jennings' longing ode, the grungy "Omaha" sees McClellan delving into her complex relationship with her hometown, navigating between identity, sense of place, and self-groundedness: "Wilting til I rot / Is it me or is it Omaha?"
Within Electric Bouquet, songs are more than just melodies; they are metaphors for the stages of life, growth, and transformation. From the budding hopes of new beginnings to the full bloom of self-realization, each track captures a moment in the continuous cycle of change. McClellan's deft storytelling and intimate lyrics invite listeners into a world where vulnerability becomes strength and introspection leads to revelation.
