Anna Goldsmith is out of her head (and trying to worm her way into yours) on her new single Brain Boyfriend — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Ever thought you were in a relationship and found out too late you weren’t? It’s easy to feel like a fool, isn’t it? Well, Ontario pop-rocker Goldsmith is here to tell you not to beat yourself up over it. After all, there are far healthier ways to deal with the realization that the love connection you had thought so genuine was all in your imagination. Like blaming the other person for it.
On her invigorating new single, Goldsmith reflects on an ideal pairing that turned out to be a mirage. And the strategy she hits on for deflecting her shame is to blow a rousing raspberry — while keeping it out there that this thing could still work, in case anybody’s listening. “I’m done wastin’ all my tissues / We can work around your issues,” she challenges, teeing up an irresistible chorus that washes away nights of tears and denial with a promise that her “brain boyfriend” may yet be hers — “You just don’t know it yet.”
“I had the idea for the song when I was in California one summer,” she says. “I was talking with this guy and he led me on. I really thought he liked me, but when I admitted my feelings for him, he said he didn’t feel the same.”
We’ve all been there. But few of us have been able to reply with a musical statement as sardonically satisfying as Brain Boyfriend, which Goldsmith calls “a new wave / grunge combo, and fun dance music that’s conveying the classic angry teenage girl: Me.” That’s undeniable, although the track’s echoey wall of sound harks back further to the tradition of great girl-group indignation.
Pretty sophisticated for a 17 year old, especially one whose past singles have tended toward earnest and uplifting anthems of empowerment like Shine. (She’s also released covers of Blondie’s One Way or Another and The Kinks’ Father Christmas.) Then again, Goldsmith is the epitome of a quick study, having only started taking vocal lessons eight years ago and now already finding herself well on the path to her first album. Along the way, she’s become a seasoned live performer too.
Check out Brain Boyfriend above, sample more music from Anna Goldsmith below, and then go to her website, Instagram and Facebook.
