Originally appeared on the 405; view archived article here. 

It took Laura Jean Anderson some years of adjusting to feel comfortable in her own skin. She was always a fish-out-of-water, growing up in a traditional Mormon household…in the grunge haven of Olympia, Washington. Hovering between these communities, she felt fully accepted by neither, which made her double down on her eccentricities. Fast forward to what was meant to be a cleansing trip across South America: Anderson lost all of her money in Peru but managed to busk her way back to the States, giving her the confidence to pursue music full-time. Her new EP, which she calls Lonesome No More, encapsulates her convictions.

Read about the context of Laura Jean Anderson’s new release below. Find the full interview here. 

Laura Jean Anderson | buy Lonesome No More EP | website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Soundcloud | Bandcamp

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On your new EP, you clearly push yourself to reach new corners of roots and Americana. Determination seems to be part of your brand, most infamously when you were forced to busk your way back from Peru. Would you describe yourself as resilient?

LJA: Resilience, determination and hard work have always been things I’ve valued. Some may say I’m just stubborn as hell, but I hope it is seen as resilience. My grandmother would also say, “you’re sad…go work. You don’t feel good…work harder.”

“Love You Most” feels like a celebration of love, but you remarked to the Fader that it is actually a reckoning with denial. What drew you to write it in this way, as opposed to making it more obviously about heartbreak?

LJA: Desire, love, and denial are such complicated experiences that make you feel incredibly torn. To write a song in a more straightforward and traditional painting of my feelings wouldn’t do the feelings justice.