Unapologetically Myself: Ella Rosa Releases EP, ‘Anxious Attachment Style’
Rising artist Ella Rosa is a singer, songwriter and storyteller drawing emotionally earnest inspiration from her own life experiences. Rosa’s experiences are conveyed through soulful vocals, underlined with jazz undertones, an apt metaphor for a resilient and upbeat approach to life as an emerging artist.
Rosa’s electro R&B EP release, Anxious Attachment Style, centers around holding onto someone so closely that it creates a sense of longing and heartbreak when the couple is separated, even if it’s for a few days. Anxious Attachment Style dives deep into exploring the troubles feeling secure in relationships due to fears of rejection and abandonment. The EP focuses on being your authentic self and not trying to people-please, and was inspired by the sounds of Ella’s childhood when she first explored electronic music in the UK. Anxious Attachment Style marks the now LA-based artist’s second EP in as many years.
“I realized that all of it's about holding on and being around someone and being so needy I guess, for lack of a better term,” Rosa says. “I just wanted to make it unapologetically myself.”
The body of work came together naturally to Rosa as she worked on releasing people-pleasing tendencies and started to lean into her full authentic truth. Anxious Attachment Style manifested for Rosa when all the music she’s been writing was immersed in themes that link to having that specific attachment style. Rosa learned to embrace the style and transmuted it into becoming secure into this project and not be afraid to wear their heart out on their sleeves.
“You'll find someone that can cater to that [attachment style], like I realized that I don't really need to change my attachment styles so that I never need to change the way I interact with other people,” Rosa says. “I just need to find the right people who are down for the ride.”
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Unpublished Magazine. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. First of all, can you introduce yourself and what type of music you make?
[ELLA]: Hi, I’m Ella Rosa and I make drum-based pop music.
[UNPUBLISHED]: what inspires your artistic persona and style?
[ELLA]: Females, love and traveling.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You are about to release your EP Anxious Attachment Style and you experiment a lot with electronic pop and R&B soundscapes. I would love to know the inspiration behind this EP and how the creative process looked like for you.
[ELLA]: I was moving around a lot from England to New York and then LA. I really found a lot of soundscapes in those cities. I found different audio tidbits that I liked and I wanted to bring that into my music, so the creative business was really exposure. I saw a lot of different musicians doing different things that I liked and stuff that I didn't like. I took advice and guidance from them. I worked with a couple of different producers on this, all of which took the idea that I have really, really well. I guess that's how it all came about, like we all are in the same mindset, we like dance music and we want to make dance music.
[UNPUBLISHED]:What was the inspiration behind the title of the EP?
[ELLA]: The title came about when I was listening to the whole project altogether. I realized that all of it's about holding on and being around someone and being so needy I guess, for lack of a better term. I just wanted to make it unapologetically myself.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Attachment styles are super vulnerable and intimate subjects to touch on. What is the message you wish you could have given to your younger self or wish someone gave you when navigating the subject?
[ELLA]: You'll find someone that can cater to that, like I realized that I don't really need to change my attachment styles so that I never need to change the way I interact with other people. I just need to find the right people who are down for the ride.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Did you have any sort of lesson or breakthrough when creating Anxious Attachment Style?
[ELLA]: I like my own music and I should start to sing with it more and like putting more of my own love and time into stuff that I want to do because I like it. I should stop getting advice from other people and just do what I want to do.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite song from Anxious Attachment Style and why do you love the song? Is there a specific lyric or message that stands out to you the most?
[ELLA]: My favorite line in the whole thing probably would be in “UR FACE” where I say, ‘You smoke too much when you've had enough / I cry / You argue / It's all for love.’ I like that because I definitely have been in multiple relationships where everything just gets so messy and then you will dismiss it as like, ‘well it's okay, we're in love.’ That's my favorite line, but then my favorite song would be “RUIN MY LYF” because it's the most theatrical, funny, tongue-in-cheek work that I made.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Has the creative process been different for Anxious Attachment Style compared to your first EP and have you taken any new approaches? Were you experimenting more lyrically or instrumentally since the debut release?
[ELLA]: I just had my hand a lot more in production, like I took a lot more care and attention and time into the actual production of the music. I didn't just want to let it fall by the wayside, so I was a bit more involved production-wise for this project which I think translates well into the music.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What was the hardest song for you to write, either lyrically or emotionally?
[ELLA]: “UR FACE” because it’s funny. I mean, it came out funny, but I guess at that time I was writing it because I didn't want to feel the way that I felt in the song so I was writing it from the perspective of once the song is out, like you got to stop doing this type of shit and getting distracted by like partners. I guess that was the hardest one because it was like me facing the things that I'm weak at.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is a message or emotions or story you hope to portray with this work to your listeners?
[ELLA]: I think just have fun and stop taking life so seriously, I guess like having a bit more fun with the way that you approach relationships and life. It doesn't always have to be like the be all and end all you know.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would love to share with the magazine?
[ELLA]: I think I'm very much in limbo right now. It’s at a good time because I was just looking through boring life stuff. One side of my life is so exciting and fulfilling and then the other side, which I have to do because I need to make money, is really not fun and I don't enjoy that. I do feel a bit like Hannah Montana in the sense that I don't have music as my full time gig and I'm luckily doing music full time. Even the stuff that I make my living from, I'm making it through music, but it's not necessarily the stuff that I want to do, but I know that will come and I'm feeling optimistic. I think if you want something hard enough, you just gotta do it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Is there anything that I didn't ask that you'd like to add to the interview?
[ELLA]: Watch the space. I'm gonna have a bunch of shows coming up in the country and around the states. DM me about what you thought about the project because I love when people send me little notes and stuff, I think that's really fun.
