Isabel Pless explores her post-coming of age debut album, ‘Workhorse’
On February 21st, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter Isabel Pless released her long-awaited debut album, Workhorse.
A 10-song, indie-pop exploration of all the feelings and nuances that come with growing up, Workhorse is personal, playful and smart, cementing Isabel’s legacy as a once-in-a-generation kind of lyricist. Calling into question themes of self-doubt, self-acceptance and what it means to be a young woman in the age of social media, Isabel’s debut album is a stunning addition to her growing discography.
In an exclusive interview with VoiceNoted, we talked to Isabel in-depth about her latest project, discussing everything from her songwriting process to the lyrics she’s most proud of and her ultimate goals when releasing new music.
To start from the beginning… when did you decide that music was something you wanted to pursue?
“I didn’t make that decision until probably 2021 when I was posting on TikTok, because I started in 2020 but it wasn’t until a year later that I was like oh, maybe there’s something here. I always thought I’d do speech and language therapy because that’s what I went to school for, but when music started to look like it could potentially work out I was like, of course I’m going to try that because that’s the dream!”
How would you describe your debut album, Workhorse to someone who hasn’t heard it?
“The one thing I really wanted with the album was I didn’t want any two songs to necessarily sound alike. My least favourite thing is when I listen to an album and I hear a song within the album and go, that sounded a lot like the first song… So hopefully, to me at least, each song is unique and specific and really its just an album about growing up and learning how to like yourself even when it’s hard.”
We noticed that in all of the album-related releases, the covers were always you standing in front of natural landscapes like trees and flowers alongside houses and roads so we’d love to know how you coordinated and came up with the ideas for them!
“I worked with a photographer, his name is Patrick McCormick, who I’m a really big fan of and we’re both from Vermont. I knew I wanted the album art to have tie-ins of suburb but also nature because where I grew up, I kind of grew up in a neighbourhood but kind of in the woods. I wanted to tie that in, so we shot it all in Vermont and it feels very special that they’re all pictures from where I grew up and learned how to be a musician.”
How did you decide that your self-titled song, Isabel would be the opening track and how do you feel it sets the tone for the rest of the project?
“Initially, I thought it was going to be the closer but my producer Ariza and I sat down with all the songs and were trying to figure out the flow for the album. He was like, this one has to go first, and I thought about it for a second and was like, wouldn’t that be weird? To me its such a vulnerable song so it seemed crazy to put it first because its starting the project right off in such an open note.
But, I think it really does set the tone for everything, because that song is all about me giving myself grace whereas the rest are about me being hard on myself, so it serves as a grounding moment of like, you can do both - give yourself grace and be hard on yourself - but hopefully you’ll find your way back to acceptance somehow.”
We’d love to know more about your writing routine and how you get into the headspace for songwriting. Do you use morning pages, voice notes or prefer to write in particular places?
“I use my notes app more than basically any app on my phone I think. Usually I’m doing something and it’ll be a quick - I’m writing down a lyric or song title in my phone to come back to later - or every now and then I’ll get a melody idea and use the voice memo app to record it. Sometimes it happens that way when you sit down and think, I’m going to write a song, but a lot of the time I’m busy and will have an idea, so I’ll kind of have to put those ideas away and come back to them later. That can help a lot honestly because things will sit and marinate in your mind so you can build them out a little bit before you start working on them.”
In I’ll See Him in Hell you sing the line: “When I walked away, it didn’t feel like a jailbreak / Just felt like I’d moved cells,” and it was by far one of our favourites from the project. On that note, we’d love to know which lyrics you’re most proud of from the album!
“I always come back to the pre-chorus line in Nobody’s Funeral that’s like, “You’re new until you’re not / You’re the name in the bedpost until you’re a notch.” I was really proud of that one, as well as in Isabel the line about how “I’ll never be a machine.” Also, in Workhorse there’s a few like “Sometimes I think I might be a workhorse / I’m satisfied when the work is forced.” Those lines all feel very true to me and very succinct which I take pride in.”
The album is filled with so much symbolism, especially in the song I Joined A Cult where you talk about iron fists and biting red fruits. Are there any particular metaphors or allusions that you hope listeners will pick up on across Workhorse?
“That’s a great question! I mean, I titled it Workhorse because of that song and also just the image of a draft horse tugging a giant piece of equipment in a field feels kind of like going through the daily motions. As I’ve gotten older, the idea of work and my life have gotten confusing because I often don’t know where the line is and I don’t know how to separate them. All of the metaphors and imagery, for me, tie into growing up and finding the balance between career and work and aspirations and also how to be a good person and have a fulfilling personal life.”
Whilst we’re on the topic of words, we know you have a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics and would love to know how studying that has informed the way that you approach songwriting?
“I focused a lot in school on phonetics and phonology which is the sounds of words. I did a bit with semantics and syntax and stuff, but there’s something so interesting to me about how languages are composed of so many different sounds. When I write songs, I’ll always think hard about if there’s a word that I want to put in a song because it captures the meaning I’m trying to get at, but doesn’t quite sound right. So, how I approach songwriting sometimes isn’t even saying exactly what I mean but trying to be honest yet also create something that sounds nice to the ear lyrically.”
Do you have any recommendations for interesting books that might change the way your listeners approach understanding storytelling?
“My favourite book is Babel by R. F. Kuang which is getting really popular right now so I’m excited about that! I read it whenever it first came out and it totally rocked my world because it’s everything I love about linguistics and also has fantasy in there. I wouldn’t necessarily say that reading it would make people view my music any differently but I think reading is important, and literature and music go hand in hand.”
We read that you wrote Shirley Temples after graduating college and returning home to Vermont for the summer, and really loved your perspective on the fullness of childhood - especially the line, “I guess that home was a space I had to grow into.”
On that note, would you class Workhorse as a ‘coming of age’ album, and what does that genre mean to you?
“Yeah, I would! I’d put it almost as post-coming of age because to me, coming of age is like you’re 18 going into college but this album is about me graduating college and starting a real adult life. So, it’s almost like post-coming of age because this album is about learning how best to operate as a person in the world. It can be really tough to figure that out sometimes especially when you’re just a bit disillusioned with everything but it’s a growing up album - just a post-growing up album.”
We then asked Isabel what music she has on repeat right now, so if you want to learn all about your favourite artist’s favourite artists, you’re in luck:
Then it was time for some fun questions…
If you could live inside the cover of any album, which would you pick?
“This is kind of a basic answer, but anytime I look at the Folklore cover by Taylor Swift I’m like, oh I would live there.”
You have a song called Blonde, but if you could cut, dye and style your hair in any way for one day - no consequences - what would you do to it?
”I’m curious how I’d look with more reddish hair so maybe I’d dye it like that and maybe try a mullet!”
If you were an inanimate object, what would you be?
”My first instinct is to say I’d be a cup of green tea.”
Describe yourself in three words, but you can’t use the letter S…
“Caring, quiet and creative!”
You released Workhorse Pt. 1 as an EP in August of last year, so we wondered if those first five songs were like the A side to a vinyl, and how do you feel the overarching narrative of the album differs between the first and second half?
“The order of the EP is a little bit different to where the songs are placed on the album, but I wanted it to be like this is the initial feeling I’m going for. The second half of the album is a little bit weirder with I Joined a Cult and (Transition) Company, so the first EP was like an introduction to what I was going for and the second half expanded on that to form the full project.
Unfortunately, in the music world you just have to release a lot of singles so the EP was a way for me to release as many singles as possible. So it set the tone for the full album, but was also a necessary creative decision.”
Did you always know that Workhorse would be the title of the full album?
“As soon as I wrote it I was like this is it. It felt like the overarching theme of everything I’d been writing over the past couple of years, so I was like, it’s got to be this one. Also, it’s short and easy to make other creative ideas from like merch so it was good for a lot of reasons.”
What does being a ‘workhorse’ mean to you and why was it important for you to write a 10-song project all about it?
“I think for me, it was like this is a summation of how I’ve grown as an artist over the past two years because I’d released a bunch of singles but I wanted an album to be like, here are ten songs that I know are good. If I can listen to them back and feel understood by something I’ve made that’s always my goal. The songs are ultimately for me but I release them with the intention for hopefully everyone to find a little more understanding within themselves because of the music. That was my goal: to create something that other people would feel understood by. Now that it’s finally out, it feels good! It feels like freedom because I’ve been working on the album for over two years now so it’s great to finally share it with other people rather than just keeping it for me.”
What’s the reception of the album been like and have there been any standout moments of online reactions from fans?
“Definitely! The messages that people send me either on TikTok or Instagram about their emotional responses to the album makes me feel emotional. The big ones are the people who stay up late in order to hear my projects when they come out. That means so much to me, when someone is willing to dedicate time to hearing my music.
There was also this one time I did a show in London and someone brought me a handmade crocheted water bottle holder because of the line in More to Give about how “I should probably drink more water.” I loved that!”
And finally, do you have any advice for any upcoming artists who want to pursue a career in music like yourself?
“I think, what I would’ve wanted to hear when I was younger is that if you think you have something worth sharing, then it's worth sharing. I used the delete button a lot when I was starting out - I’d post things then take the videos down - but it takes a lot of courage to share what you make. It’s a very rewarding thing to put something you’ve made out in the world, even if you’re just getting started and maybe not a lot of people will hear it, it’s always good to share what you make.”
In good news, Isabel will soon be heading out across the US on a mini tour, with dates in Brooklyn, Burlington and Los Angeles. For those who haven’t yet gotten a ticket, you can head to this link to grab them!
Whilst we wait to see her perform the album live, make sure to follow Isabel Pless on Instagram and stream the rest of her discography on Spotify below:
