There’s not many albums that could be said to be research-led but Berlin-based, Norwegian artist Anna Lena Bruland, aka EERA, was inspired by the famous Marilyn Monroe quote: “I don’t stop when I’m tired, I only stop when I’m done”. With her interest piqued she immersed herself in the lives and films of golden age stars such as Monroe and Shirley MacLaine and drawing parallels with the female experience of then and now*. What emerged on I’ll stop when I’m done was a “celebration of the female experience, in all its complexity, strength and vulnerability”.
“Overall, I wanted to address the pressure I feel as a woman, but also an artist. I linked some of my emotions with old movie stars from the 50s and 60s…I enjoyed doing research about them, and with doing that I saw just how much criticism they endured even though they were highly successful.”
In comparison to the frenetic and gritty intelligent pop of her last album Speak this new release has a warmth and gentle introspection that envelops you from its opening track. It might not surprise many people that I’ll stop when I’m done was produced by Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear as it has their sense of space. The placement of voice and instruments have the same kind of precision as you would find with a plate of food in a Michelin-starred restaurant (the vocals were all recorded sitting on a sofa to accentuate the sense of being relaxed and more personal). I was so captivated by the songs that it took more than a few listens before I fully appreciated how exquisite the arrangements were, particularly on my favourite track ‘Forget her’ which opens on a swell of strings that could easily have grown into a big Hollywood number with a huge staircase entrance. But this mini-overture heralds a song that is built on piano counterpoint, rotational guitar riffs, flute sounds, and gentle drums, all in support of a beautiful tune and spectral harmonies. The song itself is a candid look at Bruland’s own battle with anxiety, “I used to have quite a lot of anxiety before, and back then I always wanted to remove myself from ’her’” she explains. “It wasn’t until I accepted ‘her’ that I was able to move past it and therefore become a lot happier. She will always be a part of me, and that is fine. I am just not going to allow her to take over completely.”
The source material is most evident on tracks like ‘Honey, do you see me?’ which is inspired by the dialogue in The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960) where EERA was fascinated by the intelligent and beautiful Fran Kubelik (Shirley Maclaine) is in love with a married man who toys with her affections promises much but delivers little. The song is written from her point of view and EERA says, “I wanted to write a song from her side of the story, but also exaggerate these type of feelings in the song; where you almost feel a bit ‘mad’. The desperation of trying to be loved by someone who doesn’t want to be with you, and how that takes over your self-worth.”
‘I’ll stop when I’m done’ focuses on Marilyn Monroe in the electronic fizz and rhythmic bounce of the album’s most propulsive tracks, “I wanted to focus on her vulnerability as well by adding the sentence “I just want to find someone to love” (which is also one of her quotes). I feel that this is all she wanted deep down (beyond success). She wanted someone to love her no matter what. Someone that will always be by her side.”
Everything about this album is gentle perfection. It is beguiling, emotive, poignant in its connection with the bitter-sweet lives of female stars (and their roles) and empathic in the way EERA folds her own experience into theirs. Simply put, in three words, I’ll stop when I’m done is sublime, sublime, sublime.
EERA: Website | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Spotify | YouTube
* If you are a fan of old Hollywood then I can highly recommend Karina Longworth’s entertaining and very thorough podcast You Must Remember This which is “dedicated to exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century”.
Review by Paul F Cook
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