Have you ever found yourself feeling like a shapeshifter? Forcing yourself to adapt to new friendships, relationships, or jobs? This is a feeling artist Em Beihold knows quite well, who recently released her debut album inspired by this very topic.
Beihold released her first EP, Infrared, in 2017, but really rose to prominence in 2021 with her top 20 Billboard hit, “Numb Little Bug,” which gained widespread attention. Inspired by her struggles with anti-depressants and mental health, the song perfectly showcases Beihold’s writing style, contrasted with one of her upbeat melodies. If you don’t know her from “Numb Little Bug,” you might’ve heard her featured on Stephen Sanchez’s song, “Until I Found You,” which went extremely viral in 2023 and was even featured in the season three finale of Ginny and Georgia.
However, her ultimate passion project was released this month: her debut album, Tales of a Failed Shapeshifter. Beihold walked me through the process of creating this album, and after listening to her and the finished album, I cannot emphasize how inspiring she is as an artist. As a debut album, it is incredibly raw and honest, and a perfect showcase of her writing abilities. Hearing about her creative process made engaging with this album even more personal.
Tales of Failed Shapeshifter is Beihold’s return to music after an uncomfortable period of writer’s block. She said it is a “conversation with myself,” tackling her struggles with mental health and other complex relationships in her life. Mental health has always been a theme in her music. She described her mental health journey as feeling “on top of the world [one day], and then on the bottom the next day.” Front to back, this album walks you through that struggle in a deeply personal way.
When I asked her about her inspirations and artists who influenced TOAFSS, she quickly noted the instrumental piano and guitar work of artists from the early 2000s — Regina Spektor, Sara Bareilles, Fiona Apple, and Lily Allen. As that lane of music has died down in the past decade, she hopes to bring the attention back with her music. She said her track, “Unicorn,” is inspired by this genre and is exactly the type of song she listened to growing up.
If I were to characterize Beihold’s music in one word, that would be whimsical. Her music does not subscribe to one distinct genre; indie pop is definitely the main one that comes to mind. What makes her music so special, however, is her lyricism. This album genuinely feels like reading her diary. As I explained, TOAFSS is her return after facing writer’s block, and that return did not disappoint.
The lead single, “Brutus,” was the first song she wrote after this period, and she said it was the song that proved to her that she could still write. The song uses the Roman figure, Brutus, as a symbol for her struggles with comparison and feeling second to others. One of my favorite things about Beihold as an artist is her ability to tackle these deep topics with a touch of humor. Her music, although incredibly deep lyrically, is often contrasted with playful, upbeat melodies. She described her humor as a good way to process the difficult emotions she deals with when writing. She enjoys the juxtaposition between heartbreaking lyrics and humorous melodies.
One of her only songs that strays away from this, however, is her single, “Scared of the Dark.” She’d had the chorus of the song in her head since she was only 13. Is there anything more personal than releasing a song that you’ve carried inside you for over a decade? The song uses Beihold’s childhood fear of the dark as a metaphor describing co-dependency and the fear of being alone.
“Once I’m at the piano, any sort of filter is gone.”
Em Beihold
Her lyricism is exactly like her on paper. She described writing this album as “saying a lot of no’s.” Working with so many writers and producers, sometimes artists get lost in the crowd; they’re not listened to, and their work is not a true reflection of them. Despite being a newer artist, Beihold forced herself to say “no” to collaborators and only put out work she was confident in, which usually looked like writing alone or with limited collaborators. One of those collaborators was Jason Evigan, who’s written smash hits like “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 and “Heart Attack” by Demi Lovato. The two collaborated on track nine of the album, “Shiny New Things,” an upbeat ballad about society’s superficialities.
Beihold prides herself on not being superficial. Radio and chart hits are not important to her; what’s important is creating the art that feels like her, while material success doesn’t matter. She doesn’t regard her music as “cool.” In fact, she thinks the opposite. Beihold is a proud cat lady and even describes her hobbies as “grandma-y,” and her music is a reflection of that. Not “grandma-y” per se, but there’s no desire for the music to be trendy or viral. She just wants it to feel like her, and that makes it so authentic and relatable, which is so rare to see these days.
Beihold kicks off her Tales of a Failed Shapeshifter Tour in April, with part of the proceeds going to organizations supporting immigrant rights. I am so grateful I got the opportunity to talk with Beihold to learn more about the process of creating her incredible debut album! Be sure to give Tales of a Failed Shapeshifter a stream if you haven’t yet, to hear the incredible, multifaceted creative work of Beihold.