renforshort on Her Debut Album, The Power of a Zoloft Prescription, and Being a Woman in the Music Industry
Photo by Nathalie Benshmuel
Lauren Iseberg, better known as renforshort, is one of Toronto’s brightest upcoming stars in music today. With hits like “fuck, i luv my friends”, “wannabe”, and “afterthoughts” that have garnered millions of streams online, the twenty-year-old pop singer has officially released her debut album dear amelia.
If there’s one thing you need to know about renforshort, it’s her deep desire to share music that simultaneously encapsulates what goes on in her head and also will help others process their thoughts. Her lyricism is poignant and honest, yet leaves exact subjects of discussion as open as possible for interpretation while staying true to her story. A firm believer that it's okay for a song to not necessarily have a resolution, ren furthered this thought by discussing how her life doesn’t always have a resolution either, and that’s entirely okay.
Looking at the creation of dear amelia, Iseberg thinks she’s matured heavily in her songwriting since her first releases. Between meeting new people, consuming new media, and feeling like she was forced to mature a bit faster due to the nature of her career, dear amelia encompasses what life is like now for renforshort, exploring her own psyche through the eyes of the titular character Amelia. Ren pulls from a variety of experiences to inspire her writing, exploring the fresh experiences and years old nostalgia to invoke specific moments and emotions for her songs in their purest form, such as eating past favorite foods or listening to old favorite songs. With pure emotion in her eyes, ren stated that it’s easy to lose yourself and feel isolated, but going back to old routines or experiences really brings her back and makes her whole.
Even through the many blessings coming her way, life has certainly been challenging for renforshort in the past year, with the artist mentioning that there was a period of time where it felt like the world was against her. She now knows this is not the case, but she now really works to live by the idea that you never really know what someone is going through, so you should always try to be kind and respectful. While in a better state mentally, she admits that she still struggles to find work-life balance, often working too hard as a twenty-year-old whose life is always both work and play. Giggling that her Zoloft prescription and speaking to people helps her through the turmoil, ren doesn’t think she would be where she is now without everything life has thrown at her, stating that getting out into the world and having these experiences have helped her grow.
The twelve tracks of dear amelia find Iseberg finally reaching catharsis after releasing her thoughts out in song, displaying all of her cards for the world to see. Featuring major collaborations with Travis Barker and Jake Bugg, renforshort loved getting to work with others in the project of curating the perfect expression of her thoughts. Ren told us a few interesting stories about the songs, such as the fact that while it was specifically written to be the opening track of dear amelia, “I miss myself” was actually the last song written for the album and truly closed the book on her emotions of this era of life. At the other end of the album, we find the closing song “amelia” which finds ren speaking about taking on so much stress that she eventually loses part of herself. The raw vulnerability throughout each track is inherently sobering, and ren mentioned that she cannot wait for the world to hear what she has to say on her debut.
A key part of dear amelia for renforshort is the Letters to Amelia campaign she created for her fans to participate in. Her goal for the campaign is to give fans the opportunity to let out their emotions in a healthy way, offering the opportunity to write Amelia a letter, mail it to their P.O. box, and release the feelings necessary as the mail leaves your hand. Getting everything off of your chest in a letter to Amelia offers the catharsis of telling someone your feelings and then letting go of them physically, and every letter is disposed of to allow your feelings to remain privately your own.
With the album out now, ren’s first headlining tour has also officially been announced, covering a variety of locations across North America, Australia, and Europe. Having only one headlining show under her belt before now, renforshort was visibly excited in our chat as she explained that she cannot wait to plan out the mood and pace of her shows. Ren specifically loves getting to interact with her audiences, so having the opportunity to plan out how to involve the crowd in her show has ren elated to kick off her tour. Ren specifically mentioned how she put together a team of almost entirely women for her last tour, which in turn changed the entire feel of touring for her. Being surrounded by supportive and powerful women, in turn, boosted ren's own confidence in her touring experience, and it’s something she said she will not be changing any time soon.
As a young woman in the music industry, her desire to be surrounded by powerful women extends past just her touring experiences. She admits that she always feels as though she has to speak just a little bit louder to be heard within the male-dominated music industry, and her expressive passion for supporting young artists, specifically young women, rang throughout the conversation. “A lot of people feel intimidated by a powerful woman, but I just really want people to listen to my ideas, be receptive to them, and value them.”
Looking to the future, ren has three major goals that she wants to accomplish in her career; the ability to continue to make music her whole life, having the opportunity to play an arena, and being able to help as many people as possible through her music - including herself. Her vulnerability as an artist only continues to grow, and I personally cannot wait to see the spectacular ways in which she smashes these goals. For now, however, I’ll be blasting dear amelia and finding comfort in the way that I relate to Amelia myself in this transcendent and stunning debut full-length album from renforshort.
Photo by Luke Fenstemaker