Crying at Erewhon by Anna May

Anna May returns full of rage and sarcasm with a new song, out today!

I have been the semi-official biographer of Anna May for a year or so now, and it’s been fascinating to follow the career of a folk singer who is even more obsessed with lyrics than I am. You can catch up below, but first some vital items of business.

If, like me, you thought Erewhon was Nowhere spelled backwards and the name of an 1872 novel by Samuel Butler, you would be wrong on both counts. As everyone knows, Erewhon is in fact the store in Los Angeles for all manner of groovy goods, not least toiletries and beauty. They also do a line of ready-to-go drinks, so I’m told, and cannot open new outlets fast enough to satisfy demand. Sort of a Whole Foods Market on steroids, althought not steroids because they’re not natural.

Armed with this knowledge, Anna’s latest song makes perfect sense.

You should be in commercials
Like an actor or a God
And it went off like a ticking time bomb
When you said you didn't like my song

Anna May told us: “When I first wrote Crying at Erewhon, I wanted a recording that reflected the analog echo and golden-brimmed recordings of LA favorites like the Mamas and the Papas, the Carpenters, and the Beach Boys… to really give the song the glistening glow that it deserved, but I decided that it would be too dated and I wanted the song to sound like something brand new. I think that it totally does.”

Spent two hundred dollars on an Uber
For you to reject me
I'm in the aisles of Erewhon
And in Eagle Rock you forget me

For someone who hardly ever visits California, I enjoyed the name checking of various areas and neighbourhoods. Places I have heard of before, places I have not. Whereas an Anna May song will typically be more universal and not tied to place, this one is the complete opposite. Were it not such a sad vibe you can imagine a licensing deal.

“Anna May has a PhD in break-up songs.”

Anna shows us that it is possible to be sad and angry but also funny at the same time. She cannot understand, and I share her confusion, why men seem to be singularly unequipped for adult relationships. I generally take the easy way out and just say that it must be American men who behave this way, that British men never would.

You play the ghost, I play the fool
In this kingdom of country that you rule
There's one thing in the sky that's clear
The truth is that I really hate it here
Everyone but me with a lover on their arms
They're seeing stars on Abbot Kinney Boulevard

Perhaps this one is a little more like The Cliff than Fireflies and Buffalo. By that I mean there is more of the humour, slightly more literal lyrics. It’s a little bit shorter than her average at only six minutes. I’ve been listening for weeks and I can say it grows on you very much. I still smile when it comes on.

I get ready to board the plane
Finally I'm leaving LA
I pace the aisles of Erewhon in vain
And eventually that insatiable hunger goes away

Anna is so busy touring that she doesn’t have long to mourn the loss of another relationship as she cradles another smoothie. There is always another plane ticket waiting to be used in the drawer. This is one of my favourite Anna May songs because although she might be sad, she can still come out with funny sarcasm. She might be down for now, but she hasn’t been knocked out.

Anna May thinks deeply about the world and her music, and performs so often it is tiring just following her on Instagram. You can catch up with Anna May on her own website and on all the usual streaming services. Anna is also active on YouTube.